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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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rre5by"»"e 

MEMORIAL  VOLUME 


WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY 

1 647- 1 897. 


CONTAINING  ELEVEN  ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES,  AT  CHARLOTTE,  N.  C,  IN  MAY,    1897. 

IN    COMMEMORATION  OF 

THE  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTIETH 
ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  V/ESTMINSTER 
ASSEMBLY,  AND  OF  THE  FORMATION 
OF  THE    WESTMINSTER    STANDARDS. 


Published  by  the  di'rectwii  of  the  General  Assevibly  of  i8g-j. 


^tcljmonb,  Pa.: 

The  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Publication. 


Copyright,  1S97, 

BY 

JAMES   K.   HAZEN,   Secretary  of  Puhlication. 


'"J'.'nii  V,i^    -■■'■ 


PREFACE. 


The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  held  in  1896  at  Memphis,  Tenn., 
resolved  to  commemorate  in  some  suitable  way  the  Two 
Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  of  Divines.  It  also  appointed  an  ad  intejim. 
committee  to  prepare  an  order  of  exercises  for  this  cele- 
bration by  the  Assembly  of  1897.  This  Assembly  met 
at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  and  these  commemorative  services 
were  held  in  connection  with  its  sessions.  Eleven  ad- 
dresses of  great  excellence  were  delivered  before  the 
Assembly,  and  in  the  presence  of  very  large  audiences. 
The  Assembly  resolved  to  have  these  addresses  pub- 
lished in  a  suitable  volume,  and  appointed  a  small  com- 
mittee to  cooperate  with  the  Committee  of  Publication 
in  issuing  it.  An  Introduction  is  added,  which  may 
have  some  value,  and  the  portraits  inserted  may  give 
additional  interest  to  the  volume.  May  the  blessing  of 
the  Head  of  the  Church  make  these  addresses,  in  this 
permanent  form,  of  abiding  service  to  the  cause  of  truth' 
and  righteousness  for  many  years  to  come ! 

FRANCIS  R.  BEATTIE, 
CHARLES  R.  HEMPHILL, 
HENRY  V.   ESCOTT, 
The  Assembly' s  Editing  Committee. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION.  page. 

Assembly   Action — Westminster  Assembly — 

Bibliography, vii 

I. 
The  Political  History  of  the  Time,  ....         i 

BY  THE  REV.    HENRY  ALEXANDER  WHITE,   PH.  D.,   D.  D. 
II. 

The  Religious  Situation  at  the  Time,    ...       31 

BY  THE  REV.    ROBERT  PRICE,    D.  D.,    LL.  D. 
III. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  Itself,     ....       53 

BY  THE  REV.   T.   DWIGHT  WITHERSPOON,   D.  D. ,  LL.  D. 

IV. 
The  Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession,       87 

BY  THE  REV.    ROBERT  L.'^DABNEY,    D.  D.,   LL.  D. 

V. 
The  Catechisms,       .     .    ^ 115 

BY  THE  REV.   GIVENS  B.    STRICKLER,    P.  D.,   LL.  D. 
V 


vi  Contents. 

V    1.  PAGE. 

Thk  Polity  and  Worship  of  the  Standards,    .     139 

BY  THE  REV.   EUGENE  DANIEL,   I).   1). 

.VII. 
The  Relation  of  the  Standards  to  Other 

Creeds 169 

BY  THE  REV.   JAMES  D.   TADLOCK,    1).  D.,    LL.  D. 

VIII. 
The  Standards  AND  Missionary  Activity,  .     .     185 

BY  THE  REV.    MOSES  D.  'hOGE,    D.  D.,    l.L.  D. 

IX. 

The    Standards    in    Relation    to    Current 

Theology, 219 

BY  THE  KEY.    SAMUEL  M.   SMITH,    I).  D. 

X. 

The  Standards  in  Relation  to  Family  and 

Social  Life, 255 

BY  THE  RKV.  JOHN   F.    CANNON,    D.  D. 
XI. 

The  Standards  and  Civil  (jovernment,       .     .     271 

BY  THE  HON.   WILLIAM   M.'cOX,   A.  M. 


KEV.   I'KANCIS  R    BKAl'l'IK,  B.   U.   Ph.   U.  .  D    U. 


INTRODUCTION, 


By  Rev.   FRANCIS  R.   BEATTIE,  B.  D.,   [^h.  D.,   D.  D., 
Professor  in  Louisville  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary. 


A  SHORT  chapter  containing  some  account  of  the 
origin  and  purport  of  this  volume  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  its  readers.  A  brief  recital  of  the  action  of 
the  General  Assembly  which  led  up  to  the  celebration 
at  which  these  addresses  were  given  will  inform  the 
reader  in  regard  to  the  circumstances  out  of  which  this 
volume  sprang.  An  outline  of  the  history  of  the  stirring 
and  heroic  period  of  which  the  Westminster  Assembly 
formed  at  once  the  culmination  of  much  that  lay  in  the 
century  before  it,  and  the  foundation  of  a  great  deal  that 
rose  in  the  century  that  followed  its  meeting,  may  help 
the  reader  to  a  simple  and  intelligent  view  of  the  histori- 
cal setting  of  each  address.  In  connection  with  this 
mere  outline  of  the  history  of  the  period,  the  ordinance 
of  Parliament  convening  the  Assembly  and  the  names  of 
its  members  are  both  given.  Some  readers  may  have 
more  than  a  passing  interest  in  these  matters.  A  partial 
Bibliography  of  the  literature  which  has  gathered  round 
the  Westminster  Assembly  and  the  memorable  Symbols 
which  it  produced  is  included  for  the  advantage  of  those 
who  desire  to  pursue  their  study  of  these  inviting  topics 
at  greater  length. 

In  four  brief  sections  this  introductory  chapter  will 
deal  with  these  separate  topics  • 


viii  Introduction. 

I.  The  Action  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  proposal  to  celebrate  in  some  suitable  manner  the 
Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  meeting 
and  work  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  was 
brought  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,'  which  met  at  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  in  May,  1896.  This  proposal  came  formally 
before  the  Assembly  by  an  overture  and  a  resolution,  in 
the  following  terms,  respectively : 

"An  Overture  to  the  General  Assembly  regarding  the  Two 

Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the 

Westminster  Assembly.^ 

"  To  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
Utiited  States,  in  session  at  Metnphis,  Teuft.,  iSQf).- 

"The  undersigned  desires  respectfully  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Assembly  to  the  fact  that  it  is  now  just  about  two  cen- 
turies and  a  half  since  the  Westminster  Assembly,  which  framed 
our  Catechisms  and  Confession  of  Faith,  was  in  session. 

"He  also  brings  to  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  the  fact 
that  several  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  family  are  already 
proposing  to  celebrate,  in  various  ways,  the  Two  Hundred  and 
Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  that  great  event  during  the  coming  year. 

"He  further  expresses  the  conviction  that  at  the  present  day 
it  is  important  to  give  prominence  to  the  history  and  contents  of 
the  great  doctrinal  symbols  which  the  Westminster  Assembly 
gave  to  the  world.  We  live  in  an  age  of  unrest  and  criticism, 
if  not  of  transition,  in  regard  to  many  things  pertaining  to  the 
Christian  faith.  An  intelligent  acquaintance  with  the  history  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  a  clear  grasp  of  the  doctrinal 
system  which  it  formulated,  may  be  of  great  value  in  these  cir- 
cumstances. 

'  This  is  the  proper  official  title  of  that  branch  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  which  is  often  popularly  termed  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church,  or  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  South- 
ern States. 

^  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1896,  page  585. 


Introduction.  ix 

"The  undersigned,  therefore,  respectfully  overtures  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  take  steps  to  observe  this  anniversary  in  some 
suitable  way — say,  in  connection  with  the  Assembly  of  iSgy. 

"Francis  R.  Beattie. 
'■'■Louisville  Seminary,  May  iS,  i8g6." 

At  the  same  time  the  following  resolution  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Assembly  at  Memphis  by  one  of  its  mem- 
bers : ' 

"Whereas  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  1897,  will  be  the 
Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Completed  report 
to  the  British  Parliament  of  those  formularies  of  faith  known  as 
the  Westminster  Standards,  and  whereas  this  Assembly  would 
record  its  sense  of  the  inestimable  blessings  which  have  resulted 
from  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms,  not  only  to 
the  churches  holding  these  Standards,  but  to  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity, therefore, 

"■Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  hereby  recommends  to  the 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  within  its  bounds  the  propriety  .... 
of  commemorating  this  event  in  such  manner  as  they  deem 
"best.  W.  D.  Morton." 

These  papers  were  both  sent  to  the  Committee  of 
Bills  and  Overtures  of  the  Assembly,  and  it  presented 
the  following  report,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bly ^ 

"Your  committee  recommends  that  the  General  Assembly 
commend  to  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  the  propriety  of  ob- 
serving the  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  form- 
ulation of  the  Westminster  symbols  of  doctrine,  and  that  order 
be  taken  by  this  Assembly  to  celebrate  this  event  in  connection 
with  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1897.  To  carry 
this  order  into  effect,  it  is  recommended  that  the  Assembly  ap- 
point an  ad  ifiterini  committee  to  prepare  a  programme  of  com- 
memorative exercises,  and  to  select  speakers  for  the  occasion. 
"Charles  R.  Hemphill,  Chairjiiati." 

'  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1896,  pages  585,  586. 
"  Ibid.,  page  586. 


X  Introduction. 

Later  on  in  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  of  1896  the 
Moderator,  Dr.  Mallard,  announced  the  following  com- 
mittee to  arrange  for  the  celebration,  during  the  next 
Assembly,  of  the  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary 
of  the  origin  of  the  Westminster  Standards  :  J.  Henry 
Smith,  D.  D.,  Chairman;  F.  R.  Beattie,  D.  D.,  W.  M. 
McPheeters,  D.  D.,  T.  C.  Johnston,  D.  D.,  W.  A.  Alex- 
ander, D.  D.,  John  A.  Preston,  D.  D.' 

This  committee  thus  appointed  proceeded  in  due  time 
to  discharge  the  duty  laid  upon  it  by  the  Assembly. 
Under  the  efl&cient  leadership  of  its  chairman,  and  by 
correspondence  between  the  members  of  the  committee, 
an  elaborate  series  of  subjects  and  a  carefully-selected 
list  of  speakers  were  made  ready.  The  result  of  their 
labors  was  the  presentation  of  the  following  report  to  the 
Assembly  of  1897,  which  convened  at  Charlotte,  N.  C: ' 

"Report  to  the  Assembly  at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  of  the  Ai> 
Interim  Committee  of  the  Celebration  of  the  Two  Hun- 
dred AND  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly. 

"The  last  General  Assembly  appointed  a.n  ad  interim  com- 
mittee to  prepare  a  programme  of  commemorative  exercises, 
and  to  select  speakers  for  the  celebration  during  the  present 
Assembly  in  Charlotte,  N.  C,  of  the  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  the  formation  of  the  Westminster  symbols  of 
doctrine.  This  committee  consisted  of  the  Rev.  J.  Henry 
Smith,  D.  D.,  chairman;  F.  R.  Beattie,  D.  D.,  W.  M.  McPhee- 
ters, D.  D.,  T.  C.  Johnston,  D.  D.,  W.  A.  Alexander,  D.  D., 
and  John  A.  Preston,  D.  D.  Alas!  within  a  little  over  three 
months  after  this  appointment  (September  13th)  the  whole 
church  was  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  the  last-named  member 
of  this  committee — a  death  and  a  loss  that  has  shrouded  in  deep 
and  personal  sorrow  all  who  knew  Brother  Preston,  especially 


'Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1896,  page  618. 
'  Jbi'd  ,  1897,  pages  S-ii. 


Introduction.  xi 

the  SjTiods  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  the  devoted 
church,  in  whose  house  of  worship  the  Assembly  is  at  present 
meeting,  of  which  he  was  the  popular  and  beloved  pastor.  Your 
committee,  with  the  sad  exception  just  noted,  have  been  in 
active  correspondence  with  one  another  for  about  four  months, 
and  have,  with  remarkable  and  most  gratifying  unanimity  and 
heartiness,  agreed  upon  the  following  programme  of  exercises, 
and  upon  the  selection  of  speakers,  principals  and  alternates, 
for  this  interesting  and  important  occasion.  The  Assembly  will 
observe  that  the  topics  fall  under  three  general  heads,  viz.  : 

"  I.  The  civil  and  religious  condition  of  Britain  at  the  time. 

"2.  The  personnel  and  work  of  the  Assembly  in  its  Confes- 
sion, Catechisms,  Polity,  and  Worship. 

"  3.  The  relations  and  influences  of  these  symbols  of  doctrine 
to  current  popular  theology  and  to  the  Reformed  churches 
generally,  and  upon  individual,  family,  social,  and  civil  life — 
making  in  all  eleven  addresses. 

•   "I.    Historical  AND  Descriptive. 

"(i).  The  Social  and  Political  Condition  of  Britain  at  the 
time,  with  special  reference  to  those  aspects  of  the  times  that 
{a),  prepared  the  way  for  the  calling  of  the  Assembly,  and  (d), 
exerted  an  influence  on  it  when  called.  Principal — Rev.  Henry 
A.  White,  D.  D.,  Lexington,  Va.  Alternate— ^o.^.  Robert  P. 
Kerr,  D.  D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

"(2),  The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain  at  the  time.  Prin-: 
cipal — Rev.  Robert  Price,  D.  D.,  Clarksville,  Tenn.  Alternate—. 
Rev.  C.  R.  Hemphill,  D.  D.,  Louisville,  Ky. 

' '  (3),  Description  of  the  Assembly — its  personnel,  proceedings, 
and  place  of  meeting.  Principal — Rev.  T.  D.  Witherspoon, 
D.  D.,  Louisville,  Ky.  Alternate— Kev.  R.  K.  Smoot,  D.  D., 
Austin,  Texas. 

"H.    Expository  AND  Critical. 

"(4),  The  Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession — its  funda- 
mental and  regulative  ideas ;  and  the  necessity  and  value  of 
creeds.  Principal — Rev.  Robert  L.  Dabney,  D.  D.,  Victoria, 
Texas.  Alternate — Rev.  John  S.  Watkins,  D.  D.,  Spartanburg, 
S.  C. 

"(5),  Nature,  Value,  and  Special  Utility  of  the  Catechisms. 
Principal— Kev.  G.  B.  Strickler,  D.  D.,  Hampden-Sidney,  Va. 
Alternate— K^v.  S.  A.  King,  D.  D.,  Waco,  Texas. 


xii  Introduction. 

"(6),  Polity  and  Worship — emphasizing  their  relation  to  doc- 
trine. Principal — Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  New  Orleans,  La. 
Alternate — Rev.  Eugene  Daniel,  D.  D.,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

"III.    Influences,  Relations,  Etc.,  Etc. 

"(7),  The  Churches  that  hold  the  Westminster  Symbols,  and 
the  Reformed  Churches  generally — their  points  of  contact  and 
contrast ;  their  present  relations,  work,  and  outlook.  Princi- 
pal—^&\.  J.  D.  Tadlock,  D.  D.,  Columbia,  S.  C.  Alternate-^ 
Rev.  J.  W.  Walden,  D.  D.,  Athens,  Ga. 

"(8)  The  Westminster  Symbols  in  their  Relation  to  and  In- 
fluence upon  the  Missionary  Character  and  Activities  of  the 
Church.  Pri7icipal — Rev.  Moses  D.  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Richmond, 
Va.     Alternate— YLey.  W.  F.  V.  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  Lexington,  Ky. 

"(9),  The  Westminster  Symbols  Considered  in  Relation  to 
Current  Popular  Theology  and  the  Needs  of  the  Future.  Prin-~ 
cipal—'R.ev.  Samuel  M.  Smith,  D.  D.,  Columbia,  S.  C.  Alter- 
nate—'Kq.n.  E.  H.  Barnett,  D.  D.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"(10),  The  Influence  exerted  by  the  Westminster  Symbols 
upon  the  Individual,  the  Family  and  Society.  Principal — Rev. 
J.  F.  Cannon,  D.  D.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Alternate— 'R.ev.  A.  R. 
Cocke,  D.  D.,  AVaynesboro,  Va. 

"(11),  The  Influence  of  the  Westminster  System  of  Doctrine, 
Worship  and  Polity  on  Civil  Liberty  and  Responsible  Govern- 
ment. Principal —'Hon.  W.  M.  Cox,  Baldwyn,  Miss.  Alter- 
nate— Judge  J.  Q.  Ward,  Paris,  Ky. 

"Your  committee  is  pleased  to  report  that  all  the  principals 
except  one  have  signified  their  grateful  willingness  to  undertake 
the  service  assigned  them.  Dr.  Palmer,  however,  by  reason  of 
physical  inability,  has  transferred  the  service  appointed  him  to 
his  alternate,  which,  we  are  happy  and  glad  to  say,  Dr.  Daniel 
has  accepted. 

"(i),  Your  committee  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Assembly 
to  set  apart  and  appropriate  six  evenings  during  the  sessions  of 
this  Assembly  to  hear  these  addresses. 

"(2),  We  respectfully  recommend  that  the  Moderator  of  this 
Assembly  preside  on  these  evenings,  announce  the  topics,  and 
introduce  the  speakers. 

"(3).  We  further  recommend  that  the  Assembly  order  that 
the  travelling  expenses  of  such  ap]:)ointees  as  may  not  be  com- 
missioners from  their  Presbyteries  be  paid  out  of  the  incidental 


Introduction.  xiii 

fund  of  the  Assembly,  inasmuch  as  they  are  called  by  the 
Assembly  itself,  through  its  adinterim  committee,  to  come  and 
address  it  on  a  designated  subject. 

"Your  committee,  aware  of  Dr.  Dabney's  blindness,  and 
hearing  that  Dr.  Palmer  was  threatened  with  the  same,  and 
anxious  to  have  the  able  help  of  both  these  beloved  brethren  in 
this  interesting  anniversary,  passed  a  special  and  unanimous 
vote  that  if  either  of  these  brethren  found  himself  unable  to  be 
present  at  this  meeting,  and  would  send  his  paper  on  the  topic 
assigned  him,  your  committee  would  promise  to  endeavor  to 
have  it  properly  read  to  the  Assembly.  "Whether  these  addresses 
or  papers  shall  be  published  in  a  separate  volume,  and  by  whom, 
it  will  be  for  the  Assembly  itself  to  decide. 

"Sincerely  thanking  the  Assembly  that  appointed  us,  for  the 
sacred  trust  reposed  in  us,  and  for  the  high  honor  it  conveys,  we 
respectfully  ask  to  be  discharged. 

"J.   Henry  Smith, 
"Francis  R.   Beattie, 
"W.  M.  McPheeters, 
"T.  Gary  Johnston, 
"W.  A.  Alexander, 
"  The  Assembly's  Ad hiterim  Committee.'^ 

This  report  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  1897,  and 
referred  to  the  Cotnmittee  on  Devotional  Exercises,  of 
which  Rev.  R.  Z.  Johnston,  D.  D.,  was  chairman.  This 
committee  made  reports  from  time  to  time  to  the  Assem- 
bly.' These  were  adopted  by  the  Assembly,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  addresses  were  delivered  before  the 
Assembly  in  the  following  order:  Dr.  White  and  Dr. 
Price  were  heard  on  Thursday  night,  May  20th ;  Dr. 
Witherspoon  on  Friday,  the  21st,  at  noon,  and  Dr.  Dab- 
ney  at  night  of  the  same  day;  Dr.  Daniel  on  Saturday, 
May  22d,  at  noon;  Dr.  Strickler  on  Monday,  May  24th, 
at  II  A.  M.,  and  Dr.  Tadlock  at  night  of  the  same  day; 
Dr.   Hoge  on  Tuesday,  May  25th,  at  noon ;  Dr.  Smith 

'  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1897,  pages  9  and  15. 


xiv  Introduction. 

on  Wednesday,  May  26tli,  at  noon ;  Dr.  Cannon  on 
Thursday,  May  27th,  at  noon,  and  the  Hon.  W.  M. 
Cox  on  Friday,  May  28th,  at  noon. 

The  addresses  were  all  of  a  very  high  order,  and  gave 
great  satisfaction,  not  only  to  the  Assembly,  but  also  to 
the  large  and  deeply  interested  audiences  which  were  in 
attendance  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  series 
of  addresses.  It  is  only  .stating  a  pleasing  fact  to  .say 
that  the  interest  grew  and  the  enthusiasm  deepened  with 
each  succeeding  address,  till  at  the  close  the  impression 
produced  by  eleven  such  addresses  was  profound  and 
lasting. 

The  Assembly,  by  a  rising  vote,  testified  its  apprecia- 
tion of  these  commemorative  addresses  in  the  following 
terms  : ' 

''Resolved,  i.  That  the  Assembly  has  listened  with  intense 
interest  and  profound  attention  to  the  addresses  made  at  the 
Westminster  celebration  observed  \)y  this  Assembly  by  Rev. 
H.  A.  White,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Robert  Price,  D.  D.,  Rev.  T.  D. 
Witherspoon,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  L.  Dabney,  D.  D.,  Rev.  G.  B. 
Strickler,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Eugene  Daniel,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  D.  Tad- 
lock,  D.  D.,  Rev.  M.  D.  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Samuel  M.  Smith, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  F.  Cannon,  D.  D.,  and  the  Hon.  W.  M.  Cox. 

"  2.  That  the  Assembly  expresses  its  very  great  gratification 
with  the  exceptionally  high  order  of  the  addresses  these  brethren 
have  delivered,  and  it  at  the  same  time  assures  them  that  they 
have  discharged  the  responsibilities  laid  upon  them  in  a  manner 
which  elicits  our  highest  praise  and  merits  our  deepest  grati- 
tude. 

"3.  That  the  Assembly  tenders  to  these  brethren,  by  a  rising 
vote,  its  sincere  and  formal  thanks  for  the  splendid  service  which 
they  have  rendered  in  making  this  celebration  so  successful,  and 
in  rendering  its  results  so  effective  for  good,  under  the  blessing 
of  God,  to  the  whole  church." 

'  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1897,  page  46. 


Introduction.  xv 

The  Assembl}^  also  resolved  to  publish  the  addresses 
of  Dr.  Strickler  and  Dr.  Cannon  in  pamphlet  form  for 
general  circulation  among  our  people.'  They  will  be 
issued  by  the  Committee  of  Publication  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  in  due  season. 

The  Assembly  also  directed  that  the  eleven  addresses 
of  the  Westminster  celebration  be  published  in  a  suitable 
memorial  volume.  This  direction  was  in  the  following 
terms,  from  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures : 

"In  answer  to  the  overture  from  the  Lexington  Presbytery, 
asking  for  the  publication  of  the  Westminster  addresses,  we  re- 
commend that — 

"i.  The  Assembly  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  edit  and 
publish  the  addresses  delivered  at  Charlotte,  N.  C,  and  to  se- 
cure subscriptions  for  the  same. 

"2.  The  Committee  of  Publication  be  instructed  to  issue 
two  editions,  one  permanently  bound,  and  one  cheaply  bound  in 
paper. 

"  3.  The  thanks  of  the  Assembly  be  cordially  given  to  the  au- 
thors of  these  addresses,  and  that  the  manuscripts  of  these  ad- 
dresses be  requested  for  publication." - 

The  Moderator,  Dr.  Goetchius,  appointed  Rev.  F.  R. 
Beattie,  D.  D.,  Rev.  C.  R.  Hemphill,  D.  D.,  and  Ruling 
Elder  Henry  V.  Escott,  a  committee  to  cooperate  with 
the  Committee  of  Publication  in  accordance  with  the 
above  resolutions  of  the  Assembly.^  This  committee, 
in  conference  with  the  Committee  of  Publication,  at 
once  entered  on  its  duties,  securing  a  large  number  of 
advance  subscribers,  and  in  due  time  this  volume  was 
issued  as  the  result  of  its  labors. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  the  fact  that  the  Moderator  of 
the  Assembly,  Rev.  G.  T.  Goetchius,  D.  D.,  presided 
on  the  occasion  of  the  delivery  of  the  first  and  second  ad- 

'  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  iSgy,  pages  24  and  34. 
"^  Ibid.,  1897,  page  43.  '^  Ibid.,  1897,  page  44. 


xvi  Introduction. 

dresses;  and  that,  at  his  request,  the  following  members 
of  the  Assembly  presided  as  the  subsequent  addresses 
were  delivered  in  order:  Rev.  F.  R.  Beattie,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Robert  Price,  D.  D.,  Rev.  M.  D.  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  Q. 
Mallard,  D.  D.,  Rev.  S.  A.  King,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  C. 
Reed,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  B.  Shearer,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  Z.  John- 
ston. D.  D.,  and  the  Hon.  B.  R.  Wellford. 

The  closing  action  of  the  Assembly  touching  this 
Westminster  celebration  was  to  present  a  resolution  of 
thanks  to  the  ad  interim  committee,  in  terms  as  follows  : ' 

"The  thanks  of  the  General  Assembly  are  hereby  given  to 
the  ad  zftteritn  Committee  on  the  celebration  of  the  Two  Hrn- 
dred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Westminster  Standards  for 
their  faithful  and  efficient  labors,  restilting  in  so  splendid  a  pro- 
gramme of  subjects,  and  in  so  wise  a  selection  of  speakers, 
thereby  contributing  ably  to  the  revival  of  interest  in  these 
noble  symbols  of  faith. 

"We  hereby  express  our  heartfelt  sj'mpathy  for  our  beloved 
brother,  Rev.  J.  Henry  Smith,  D.  D.,  of  Greensboro,  N.  C,  a 
member  of  the  committee,  in  the  sickness  which  prevented  his 
attendance  on  this  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly." 

Dr.  Smith  was  chairman  of  the  ad  iyiterini  committee, 
and  his  zeal  and  ability  did  much  to  give  the  programme 
of  the  celebration  its  mature  form.  It  was  a  source  of 
deep  regret  that  he  was  not  present  in  person  to  see  and 
rejoice  in  the  grand  result  of  his  faithful  service. 

It  is  too  soon  to  speak  at  length  of  the  deep  and  wide- 
spread benefits  which  may  flow  from  this  celebration  and 
others  of  a  similar  nature  held  in  various  connections 
throughout  our  bounds.  With  God's  blessing  upon 
these  celebrations,  good  will  surely  follow.  Larger 
knowledge  of  the  origin  and  contents  of  our  Standards 
will  be  one  result.     Greater  devotion  to  the  system  of 

'  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1897,  page  53.       > 


Introduction.  xvii 

doctrine,  polity,  and  worship  which  they  contain  will 
surely  be  kindled.  And  a  renewed  purpose  to  spread 
these  great  teachings  abroad  among  men  will  no  doubt 
be  formed  by  many  of  our  people. 

It  is  gratifying  to  notice  that  other  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  family  in  America  and  Europe  are  also 
entering  upon  similar  celebrations  during  this  year.  A 
revived  interest  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformed  system 
will  be  the  sure  result,  and  with  this  will  come  vigorous 
spiritual  life  and  quickened  religious  activity  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  world  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

II.    Thk  Historical  Framework  of  the  Period  of 
THE  Westminster  Assembly. 

In  this  section  a  brief  preliminary  historical  outline  of 
the  era  of  which  the  Westminster  Assembly  forms  the 
centre  will  be  given.  Such  an  outline  may  furnish  to 
some  readers,  at  a  single  glance,  a  helpful  view  of  the 
whole  period  to  which,  in  various  ways,  reference  is 
made  in  the  addresses  which  make  up  the  body  of  this 
volume.  In  this  brief  sketch  only  the  historical  frame- 
work of  the  leading  names,  dates  and  events  can  be  pre- 
sented, so  that  scarcely  anything  that  is  wrought  out  at 
length  in  these  addresses  will  be  anticipated.  The 
perusal  of  this  section  at  the  outset  may  make  the  study 
of  the  splendid  addresses  which  follow  all  the  more 
pleasant  and  profitable. 

The  historical  period  of  which  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly of  Divines  is  the  central  event  may  be  made  to  cover 
the  period  from  the  accession  of  James  VI.  of  Scotland  to 
the  throne  of  the  United  Kingdoms  of  England  and  Scot- 
land as  James  I.,  in  1603,  to  the  time  of  the  Restoration 
of  the  Stuarts,  at  the  close  of  the  Protectorate,  in  1660. 
This  makes  a  period  of  fifty-seven  years,  during  which 


xviii  Introduction. 

Puritanism  had  its  remarkable  career,  and  of  which  the 
ripest  results  were  gathered  up  by  the  Westminster 
Assembly  in  its  splendid  symbols.  But  prior  to  this 
period  for  many  years,  and  especially  during  the  long  and 
brilliant  reign  of  Elizabeth,  certain  influences  were  at 
work,  both  in  England  and  Scotland,  which  prepared  the 
way  for  the  movement  that  culminated  in  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly.  This  may  be  termed  the  preparatory 
period.  In  England  it  dates  definitely  from  the  year 
1534,  when,  under  Henry  VIII.,  the  Act  of  Supremacy 
was  passed.  In  Scotland  it  has  its  real  beginning  from 
the  year  1560,  when  Presbyterianism  was  ratified  by  law 
as  the  religion  of  the  realm,  under  Knox,  in  the  reign  of 
Mary  Oueen  of  Scots.  Thus,  for  fully  half  a  century  prior 
to  James  I. ,  the  movements  in  both  the  civil  and  religious 
spheres,  which  shaped  themselves  definitely  in  the  Puri- 
tan struggle,  were  already  at  work  both  in  England  and 
Scotland.  During  this  formative  period  there  were  four 
sovereigns  in  England  and  two  in  Scotland.  In  Eng- 
land Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  Mary  and  Elizabeth 
held  the  sceptre  up  to  1603,  while  in  Scotland,  from  the 
death  of  James  V.,  in  1542,  Marj^  ruled  till  1567,  and 
then  her  son,  James  VI.,  with  a  regency  during  his 
minority,  up  to  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  in  1603,  when 
James  VI.  of  Scotland  became  James  I.  of  England  and 
Scotland.  This  is  the  period  prior  to  what  we  have 
called  the  Westminster  Assembly  era.  With  the  year 
1603  this  era  really  begins,  and  for  forty  years  the  sore 
struggle  went  on  till  the  Assembly  met,  in  1643,  and 
then  it  continued,  in  various  forms,  till  the  Restoration, 
in  1660.  Though  the  conflict  was  chiefly  in  England, 
Scotland  felt  some  of  its  pulsations.  In  the  political 
sphere  it  was  a  conflict  between  the  throne,  with  its  idea 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  people,  who  were 


Introduction.  xix 

slowly  realizing  that  they,  too,  had  some  divine  rights. 
In  the  realm  of  religion  the  conflict  was  between  a  com- 
plete reformation,  such  as  had  been  effected  in  Scotland, 
and  a  partial  reformation,  such  as  was  represented  by 
the  Episcopacy  of  Elizabeth's  day.  In  the  state  it  was 
absolutism  against  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  in  reli- 
gion it  was  prelacy  against  presbytery.  The  struggle, 
which  took  more  than  half  a  century  to  assume  its  defi- 
nite form,  was  more  than  another  half-century  in  work- 
ing out  its  perplexing  problems.  In  the  forum  and  on 
the  field,  in  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press,  the  inevi- 
table contest  was  waged,  till  one  vStuart  king  died  on  the 
scaffold;  and,  later  on,  the  unique  Protectorate  had  to 
give  way  for  the  return  of  another  Stuart  king  to  the 
throne. 

James  I.  reigned  from  1603  to  1625,  a  period  of  twenty- 
two  years.  Then  came  the  ill-fated  Charles  I.,  who  was 
put  to  death  in  1649,  after  a  turbulent  rule  of  twenty- 
four  years.  It  was  during  this  fateful  period  that  at 
times  the  destiny  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  seemed  to 
be  hanging  in  the  balance.  At  length  the  Assembly  at 
Westminster  was  convened,  and  carefully  framed  those 
sj^mbols  which  announce  so  plainly  the  abiding  princi- 
ples of  evangelical  religion,  as  v/ell  as  of  civil  and  religi- 
ous liberty. 

During  the  reign  of  James  I.  the  representatives  of  the 
people  in  Parliament  had  little  control  of  public  affairs, 
and  for  years  at  a  time  the  king  dispensed  with  the 
services  of  Parliament  altogether.  The  result  was  that 
civil  rights  were  ignored  or  destroyed,  and  religious 
grievances  became  more  and  more  intolerable.  When 
James  died,  in  1625,  Puritanism,  both  as  a  civil  and  a  re- 
ligious force,  had  almost  reached  its  high-water  mark. 

With  the  accession  of  Charles  I.  to  the  throne  some 


XX  InTRODTjCTION. 

had  hopes  of  a  better  day ;  but  these  hopes  were  soon 
shattered,  and  the  worst  fears  of  manj^  were  speedily 
reahzed.  Charles  soon  dissolved  Parliament.  In  1626 
another  was  called,  but  soon  dissolved,  and  this  opera- 
tion was  repeated  with  still  another  in  1629. 

Many  of  the  Puritans  emigrated  to  America  about 
1630,  following  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  who  had  landed  in 
New  England  ten  years  before.  In  1633  Laud  is  made 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  in  1637  he  tried  to  force 
Episcopacy  upon  Scotland.  In  the  same  year  the  trial 
of  Hampden  for  refusing  to  pay  ship-money  took  place. 
Various  petitions  were  presented  to  the  king,  seeking  re- 
dress for  sore  evils  in  church  and  state,  but  all  their  ap- 
peals were  in  vain.  Towards  the  close  of  1640  the  Long 
ParHament  met,  with  Pym  leader  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. In  May,  1641,  Strafford,  the  chief  adviser  of 
Charles,  was  executed.  The  same  year  Charles  visited 
Scotland,  seeking  the  support  of  that  kingdom.  In  1642 
the  Royalist  and  the  Parliamentary  forces  unsheathed 
the  sword,  and  the  contest  was  transferred  from  the  halls 
of  legislation  to  the  battle-field.  In  1643  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  met,  and  the  struggle  still  went  on  in  the 
field,  with  Oliver  Cromwell  the  leader  of  the  Parliament- 
ary forces.  During  1645  the  Royalist  forces  suffered  sore 
defeats,  especially  at  Naseby,  and  in  1646  Charles  gave 
himself  up  to  the  Scottish  leaders,  and  they  in  turn,  in 
1647,  surrendered  him  to  the  Parliament.  For  nearly  two 
years  the  dreadful  conflict  continued,  iintil  at  length  the 
king  was  executed  January  30,  1649,  and  England  was 
proclaimed  a  commonwealth  before  the  close  of  the  same 
year.  From  that  time  till  1653  Parliament  sought  to 
hold  the  reins  of  power  and  rule  alone,  but  in  that  year 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  made  Lord  Protector.  Soon  after 
he  somewhat    rudely  dismissed  what   remained  of  the 


Introduction.  xxi 

Long  Parliament,  which  had  been  in  existence  since  1640, 
and  which  continued  to  have  a  nominal  existence  down 
to  1660,  when  it  was  finally  dissolved.  This  Long  Par- 
liament must  ever  be  remembered  in  connection  with  the 
Westminster  Assembly. 

The  Protectorate  of  Oliver  Cromwell  continued  down 
to  1658,  and  in  some  respects  it  was  marked  b}'  not  a 
little  tyranny,  and  by  frequent  disregard  of  the  will  of 
the  people.  In  that  year  Cromwell  died,  and  his  son, 
Richard,  became  Lord  Protector.  He  was  totally  unfit 
to  hold  the  reins  of  government,  and  the  people  became 
displeased,  so  that  the  way  was  ere  long  opened  for  the 
return  of  the  monarchy,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Stuart 
line  in  the  person  of  Charles  II.,  in  1660.  This  virtually 
closed  the  outward  political  career  of  Puritanism,  though 
the  great  principles  represented  by  it  were  so  wrought 
into  the  life  of  the  English  people  that  Britain  after  the 
Restoration  was  greatly  different  in  both  church  and  state 
from  what  it  was  prior  to  the  Long  Parliament. 

From  1660  and  the  Restoration  on  to  1688  and  the 
Revolution,  there  is  a  period  subsequent  to  the  West- 
minster Assembly  era,  when,  for  a  time,  much  that  was 
really  gained  during  that  era  seemed  to  be  apparentlj'- 
lost.  Charles  II.  was  on  the  throne  from  1660  till  his 
death,  in  1685 ;  and  James  II.  followed,  but  held  the 
sceptre  only  about  three  j^ears.  Neither  of  them  had 
rightly  learned  the  great  lessons  which  the  period  of 
fifty-seven  years,  from  1603  to  1660,  should  have  taught 
those  who  were  to  fitl)^  rule  the  British  people,  while  the 
people  had  been  taught  lessons  during  that  same  period 
which  they  could  never  forget  or  set  aside.  The  result 
was  that  the  gates  were  almost  as  gladly  opened  for  the 
approach  of  William  of  Orange  as  they  had  been  for 
Charles  II.,  so  that  what  seemed  lost  by  the  Restoration 


xxii  Introduction. 

of  1660  was  really  recovered  by  the  Revolution  of  1688. 
Thus  the  dreadful,  struggle  of  those  dark  days,  from 
1603  to  1660,  was  crowned  with  the  permanent  results 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  civil  and  religious  liberty  en- 
joyed by  Britain  and  the  United  States  to  the  present 
day.  In  the  heart  of  that  period,  so  fraught  with  bless- 
ing, stands  the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  in  its  cele- 
brated symbols  we  have  promulgated  the  principles 
which  made  triumph  sure  in  the  end.  The  splendid 
way  in  which  these  principles  have  stood  the  severest 
tests  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  on  two  continents, 
and  under  different  forms  of  government,  is  abundant 
proof  of  the  value  of  these  principles,  and  a  cogent  rea- 
son why  those  who  have  fallen  heir  to  them  should  be 
true  to  their  splendid  heritage.  A  birthright  so  dearly 
purchased  and  so  valuable  shall  surely  never  be  sold  for 
a  mess  of  pottage. 

A  few  facts  of  history  regarding  the  Assembly  itself 
may  be  of  some  service  in  this  preliminary  sketch. 

The  Assembly  met,  in  response  to  the  call  and  appoint- 
ment of  the  Long  Parliament,  on  the  first  day  of  July, 
1643.  Most  of  its  sessions  were  held  in  the  Jerusalem 
Chamber  of  the  historic  Abbey  of  Westminster.  Its  first 
work  was  an  attempt  to  revise  the  Thirty-nine  Articles. 
The  Assembly  continued  at  this  task  till  the  12th  of 
October,  1643,  when  the  proposed  revision  of  fifteen 
Articles  was  completed.  The  Parliament  then  gave  the 
Assembly  directions  to  cease  its  work  on  the  Articles  and 
begin  with  the  Government  and  Liturgy  of  the  Church. 
Meantime  the  Scottish  Commissioners  arrived  on  the  15th 
of  September,  1643,  and  the  Solemn  League  and  Cove- 
nant was  taken  on  the  25th  of  September  of  the  same 
year.  In  accordance  with  the  direction  of  Parliament, 
the  Assembly  began  its  work  on  the  Government  and 


Introduction.  xxiii 

Liturgy  of  the  Church  in  October.  The  Assembly  seems 
to  have  labored  on  the  Form  of  Church  Government  and 
on  the  Directory  for  Worship  at  the  same  time,  during 
the  years  1643  and  1644.  The  Assembly  presented  its 
first  report,  which  was  a  partial  one,  to  Parliament  on 
the  24th  of  May,  1644.  Other  partial  reports  were  made 
during  June,  July  and  November  of  that  year,  and  the 
Directory,  as  a  whole,  received  the  approval  of  Parlia- 
ment on  the  3d  of  January,  1645,  so  that  this  Directory, 
which  was  to  take  the  place  of  the  Liturgy,  was  really 
the  first  finished  work  of  the  Assembly. 

In  the  meantime  the  work  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
Form  01  Government  was  dragging  on  its  weary  way 
through  endless  debates,  for  the  real  battle-ground  was 
here.  On  the  20th  of  April,  1644,  the  first  partial  report 
on  Church  Government  was  made  to  Parliament,  and  on 
the  8th  of  November  of  the  same  year  a  further,  and 
probably  a  completed,  report  was  made. 

In  February,  1645,  the  Scottish  General  Assembly  ap- 
proved both  the  Directory  of  Worship  and  the  Form  of 
Government,  but  did  not  yet  formally  adopt  them,  await- 
ing the  action  of  the  Parliament.  After  various  delays 
an  ordinance  substantially  adopting  the  reports  of  the 
Assembly  passed  both  Houses  of  Parliament  on  the  29th 
of  August,  1648.  The  Form  of  Government  in  this  or- 
dinance was  essentially  of  the  Presbyterian  type. 

The  Confession  of  Faith  comes  to  be  next  considered. 
On  the  20th  of  August,  1644,  the  committee  for  the  Con- 
fession was  appointed,  and  sub-committees  were  after- 
wards formed  to  aid  in  this  work.  Great  care  was  evi- 
dently taken  wdth  this  doctrinal  symbol,  for  reports  from 
the  various  committees  were  made  from  time  to  time, 
and  these  were  revised  again  and  again.  On  the  25th 
of  September,    1646,   the  first  nineteen  chapters  of  the 


xxiv  Introduction. 

Confession  were  reported  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
on  the  4th  of  December  of  the  same  year  the  whole  Con- 
fession was  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  on 
the  7th  of  December  to  the  House  of  Lords.  This  pre- 
sentation was  made  by  the  Assembly  in  a  body.  On  the 
29th  of  April,  1647,  the  Scripture  proofs  were  presented 
to  Parliament,  but  it  was  not  adopted  by  that  body  till 
the  following  summer,  and  then  with  some  important 
exceptions  where  the  relations  of  church  and  state  are  in 
question. 

As  early  as  December,  1643,  the  Assembly  began  work 
on  the  Catechisms.  On  August  ist,  1645,  a  report  was 
presented  by  the  Catechism  Committee  to  the  Assembly, 
and  on  the  14th  of  January,  1647,  the  Assembly  decided 
to  prepare  two  Catechisms  instead  of  one.  The  Larger 
Catechism  was  completed  first.  It  was  presented  to  the 
Assembly  on  the  20th  of  October,  1647,  and  on  the  22nd 
of  the  same  month  it  was  laid  before  both  Houses  of 
Parliament.  The  Scripture  proofs  were  presented  on 
the  14th  of  April,  1648,  and  this  Catechism  was  approved 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  Scotland  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1648.  The  Shorter  Catechism  was  not  presented 
to  Parliament  till  the  25th  of  November,  1647,  and  the 
Scripture  proofs  were  not  reported  till  the  14th  of  April, 
1648.  The  hands  of  Palmer,  Tuckney  and  Burgess  were 
prominent  in  framing  the  Catechisms. 

Soon  after  this  the  Assembly  ceased  its  active  work  in 
the  lines  on  which  it  had  moved  all  through  these  event- 
ful 3^ears.  It  continued  to  discharge  certain  ecclesiasti- 
cal functions,  such  as  granting  licenses  to  ministers, 
down  to  about  the  close  of  1652,  and  it  really  passed  out 
of  existence  with  the  decline  of  the  Long  Parliament 
which  had  convened  it.  Its  actual  term  of  existence  is 
sometimes  given  as  five  years,  six  months  and  twenty- 


Introduction.  xxv 

two  days,  during  which  time  it  held  at  least  one  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  sixty-three  sessions,  but  it  is  not 
easj^  to  say  absolutely  when  it  ceased  to  exist.  Towards 
the  close  of  its  sittings  its  minutes  may  not  have  been 
made  with  such  care  as  during  the  early  years  of  its 
work,  and  its  real  work  was  done  before  1649,  when 
Charles  I.  was  executed. 

To  give  a  wider  view  of  the  relations  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  to  the  whole  Reformation  movement,  a 
few  brief  statements  are  set  down  to  complete  this  his- 
torical outline. 

About  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  and  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  centuries  several  of  the  great  actors  who  were 
to  play  important  parts  in  the  drama  of  the  Reformation 
were  born.  Luther  was  born  in  1483,  Zwingli  in  1484, 
Farelin  1489,  Henry  VIII.  in  1491,  Melanchthon  in  1497, 
Knox  in  1505,  Calvin  in  1509,  and  William  the  Silent  in 
1533-  Thus  Providence  was  in  various  lands  preparing 
different  men  who  should  in  due  season  be  ready  for  the 
gigantic  task  to  which  the}'  were  called. 

Then,  at  nearly  the  same  time,  the  Reformation  move- 
ment began  in  the  several  countries  represented  by  these 
historic  names  just  mentioned.  In  Germany  Luther's 
theses  appeared  in  15 17,  and  in  1520  he  was  excommu- 
nicated ;  and  the  Reform  cause  in  that  land  was  thereby 
launched  on  a  tempestuous  sea.  In  1522  Zwingli  was 
beginning  to  boldly  declare  the  true  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  in  a  few  3^ears  Switzerland  had  the  true  light 
shining  brightly  b}^  its  lovely  lakes  amid  the  mountains. 
In  1526  Henry  VIII.,  for  reasons  of  a  doubtful  nature, 
was  in  conflict  with  the  Pope;  and  in  1534  the  Act  of 
Supremacy  was  passed,  and  the  Reformation  v.'as  nomi- 
nally planted  on  English  soil.  By  the  year  1550  Calvin 
was  supreme  in  Geneva,  and  at  that  time  also  the  Re- 


xxvi  Introduction. 

formed  doctrine,  largely  in  its  Calvinistic  type,  had  a 
firm  foothold  in  France  and  the  Netherlands.  About 
the  same  time,  and  more  or  less  for  a  generation  or  two 
later,  Geneva  and  Holland  exerted  much  influence  on 
the  Reform  movement  in  Britain.  Knox  spent  some 
time  at  Geneva,  and  many  English  Puritans  found  an 
asylum  in  Holland.  About  1560  we  find  Knox  in  Scot- 
land preaching  the  pure  gospel,  and  organizing  the  Re- 
formation in  his  native  land  in  a  thoroughly  scriptural 
manner  in  its  doctrine,  polity  and  worship.  As  Knox 
was  completing  his  work  in  Scotland,  in  spite  of  the  op- 
position of  Queen  Mary,  William  the  Silent,  about  1566, 
was  preparing  to  cope  with  the  strong  arm  of  Spain  in 
what  seemed  at  first  a  hopeless  struggle,  but  which 
turned  out  in  the  end  to  be  a  glorious  triumph.  Then 
in  France  soon  after  came,  in  1572,  that  dreadful  massa- 
cre of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  which  at  one  fell  blow 
robbed  that  fair  land  of  her  best  and  noblest  blood. 

In  Geneva,  in  Holland,  and  in  Scotland  the  Reforma- 
tion was  perhaps  made  more  thorough  than  in  any  other 
land,  and  it  was  from  these  centres  that  certain  influences 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Reform  movement  in 
England  for  many  years  prior  to  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly. As  is  well  known,  there  was  in  Elizabeth's  da}'  a 
strong  party  in  England  who  wished  for  a  more  com- 
plete reform  in  religion  than  the  EpiscopacA'  of  that  time 
represented.  This  party,  in  her  day,  and  afterwards,  in 
the  time  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  was  in  constant 
communication  with  the  thorough-going  Reformers  in 
Scotland  and  on  the  continent.  This  indicates  the  con- 
nection of  the  Westminster  Assembly  in  England  with 
the  true  Reform  life  of  Scotland  and  the  continent.  This 
is  also  clearly  shown  from  the  ordinance  of  Parliament 
calling    the    Assembly,    wherein    it   is    stated    that    the 


Introduction.  xxvii 

Assembly  shall  seek  to  bring  the  church  in  England 
into  ' '  nearer  agreement  with  the  Church  of  Scotland  and 
the  other  Reformed  churches  abroad."  Thus  it  came  to 
pass  that  this  memorable  Assembly,  whose  splendid 
story  is  so  grandly  told  in  the  addresses  which  make  up 
this  volume,  gathered  up  into  itself  the  varied  yet  kin- 
dred streams  that  flowed  from  the  pure  springs  which 
rose  among  the  hills  of  Scotland,  the  mountains  of  Switz- 
erland, and  the  plains  of  Holland;  and  then,  in  turn, 
this  Assembly,  with  its  venerable  .symbols,  has,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  ever  since  been  the  unfailing  reser- 
voir from  which  has  flowed  numberless  pure  and  life- 
giving  streams  into  lands  far  and  near,  to  make  glad  the 
city  of  God  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  That  we  have 
one  stream  from  that  reservoir  still  pure,  ever  purified, 
flowing  through  our  beloved  Zion,  should  evoke  our 
grateful  praise  and  provoke  our  earnest  zeal  to  open  up 
other  channels,  that  this  stream  may  refresh  the  waste 
places  of  the  earth. 

III.  The  Ordinance  Calling  the  Assembly,  and  a 
List  of  its  Members. 
The  ordinance  issued   by  Parliament  to  convene  the 
Westminster  Assembly  bears  date  of  June  12,  1643,  and 
is  as  follows : 

"'An  Ordinance  of  ike  Lords  and  Commons  in  Parliament  for 
the  calling  of  an  Assembly  of  learned  and  godly  divines, 
and  others,  to  be  consulted  luith  by  the  Parliament,  for  the 
settling  of  the  Government  and  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  for  the  viiidicating  and  clearing  of  the 
doctritte  of  the  said  church  from  false  aspersions  and  inter- 
pretations. 
"Whereas,  amongst  the  infinite  blessings  of  Almighty  God 
upon  this  nation,  none  is,  or  can  be,  more  dear  unto  us  than  the 
purity  of  our  religion;  and  for  that,  as  yet  many  things  remain. 


xxviii  Introduction. 

in  the  Liturgy,  Discipline  and  Government  of  the  church,  which 
do  necessarily  require  a  further  and  more  perfect  reformation 
than  hath  yet  been  attained. 

"And  whereas  it  hath  been  declared  and  resolved  by  the 
Lords  and  Commons  assembled  in  Parliament,  that  the  present 
church  government,  by  archbishops,  bishops,  their  chancellors, 
commissaries,  deans  and  chapters,  archdeacons,  and  other  eccle- 
siastical officers,  depending  upon  the  hierarchy,  is  evil,  and 
justly  offensive  and  burdensome  to  the  kingdom,  a  great  impedi- 
ment to  reformation  and  growth  of  religion,  and  very  prejudicial 
to  the  state  and  government  of  this  kingdom  ;  and  that  therefore 
they  are  resolved  that  the  same  shall  be  taken  away,  and  that 
such  a  government  shall  be  settled  in  the  church  as  may  be  most 
agreeable  to  God's  Holy  Word,  and  most  apt  to  procure  and 
preserve  the  peace  of  the  church  at  home,  and  nearer  agreement 
with  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  other  Reformed  Churches 
abroad. 

"And  for  the  better  effecting  hereof,  and  for  the  vindicating 
and  clearing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  from  all 
false  calumnies  and  aspersions,  it  is  thought  fit  and  necessary  to 
call  an  Assembly  of  learned,  godly  and  judicious  divines,  to  con- 
sult and  advise  of  such  matters  and  things,  touching  the  prem- 
ises, as  shall  be  proposed  unto  them  by  both  or  either  of  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  to  give  their  advice  and  counsel 
therein  to  both  or  either  of  the  said  Houses,  when,  and  as  often 
as,  they  shall  be  thereunto  required. 

"Be  it  therefore  ordained,  by  the  Lords  and  Commons  in 
this  present  Parliament  assembled,  that  all  and  every  the  persons 
hereafter  in  this  ordinance  named,  that  is  to  say,'  [here  follow 
the  names,]  and  such  other  persons  as  shall  be  nominated  and 
appointed  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  or  as  many  of  them  as 
shall  not  be  letted  by  sickness,  or  other  necessary  impediment, 
shall  meet  and  assemble,  and  are  hereby  required  and  enjoined, 
upon  summons  signed  by  the  clerks  of  both  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, left  at  their  several  respective  dwellings,  to  meet  and 
assemble  at  Westminster,  in  the  chapel  called  King  Henry 
Seventh's  Chapel,  on  the  first  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our 

^  In  the  original  ordinance  the  names  of  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  are  inserted  at  this  point.  They  are  placed  at  the 
close  in  this  sketch. 


Introduction.  xxix 

Lord  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-three ;  and  after  the 
first  meeting,  being  at  least  of  the  number  of  forty,  shall  from 
time  to  time  sit,  and  be  removed  from  place  to  place ;  and  also, 
that  the  said  Assembly  shall  be  dissolved  in  such  manner  as  by 
both  Houses  of  Parliament  shall  be  directed. 

"And  the  said  persons,  or  so  many  of  them  as  shall  be  so 
assembled  or  sit,  shall  have  power  and  authority,  and  are  hereby 
likewise  enjoined,  from  time  to  time  during  this  present  Parlia- 
ment, or  until  further  order  be  taken  by  both  the  said  Houses, 
to  confer  and  treat  among  themselves  of  such  matters  and  things, 
touching  and  concerning  the  Liturgy,  Discipline  and  Govern- 
ment of  the  Church  of  England,  or  the  vindicating  and  clearing 
of  the  doctrine  of  same  from  all  false  aspersions  and  miscon- 
structions, as  shall  be  proposed  to  them  by  both  or  either  of  the 
said  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  no  other ;  and  to  deliver  their 
opinions  and  advices  of  or  touching  the  matters  aforesaid,  as 
shall  be  most  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God,  to  both  or  either  of 
the  said  Houses,  from  time  to  time,  in  such  manner  and  sort  as 
by  both  or  either  of  the  said  Hotises  of  Parliament  shall  be  re- 
quired, and  the  same  not  to  divulge,  by  printing,  writing,  or 
otherwise,  without  the  consent  of  both  or  either  House  of  Par- 
liament. 

"And  be  it  further  ordained,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that 
William  Twisse,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  shall  sit  in  the  chair,  as  pro- 
locutor of  the  said  Assembly ;  and  if  he  happen  to  die,  or  be  letted 
by  sickness,  or  other  necessary  impediment,  then  such  other 
person  to  be  appointed  in  his  place  as  shall  be  agreed  on  by  both 
the  said  Houses  of  Parliament.  And  in  case  any  difference  of 
opinion  shall  happen  amongst  any  of  the  said  persons  so  assem- 
bled, touching  any  of  the  matters  that  shall  be  proposed  to  them 
as  aforesaid,  that  then  they  shall  represent  the  same,  together 
with  the  reasons  thereof,  to  both  or  either  the  said  Houses 
respectively,  to  the  end  such  further  direction  may  be  given 
therein  as  shall  be  requisite  in  that  behalf. 

"And  be  it  further  ordained,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that 
for  the  charges  and  expense  of  the  said  divines,  and  every  of 
them,  in  attending  the  said  service,  there  shall  be  allowed  unto 
every  of  them  that  shall  so  attend  the  sum  of  four  shillings  for 
every  day,  at  the  charges  of  the  Commonwealth,  at  such  time 
and  in  such  manner  as  by  both  Houses  of  Parliament  shall  be 
appointed. 


XXX  Introduction. 

"And  be  it  further  ordained,  that  all  and  every  the  said 
divines,  so  as  aforesaid  required  and  enjoined  to  meet  and 
assemble,  shall  be  freed  and  acquitted  of  and  from  every  offence, 
forfeiture,  penalty,  loss,  or  damage,  which  shall  or  may  arise  or 
grow  by  reason  of  any  non-residence  or  absence  of  them,  or  any 
of  them,  from  his  or  their,  or  any  of  their,  church,  churches,  or 
cures,  for  or  in  respect  of  the  said  attendance  upon  the  said  ser- 
vice, any  law  or  statute  of  non-residence,  or  other  law  or  statute 
enjoining  their  attendance  upon  their  respective  ministries  or 
charges,  to  the  contrary  thereof  notwithstanding. 

"And  if  any  of  the  persons  before  named  shall  happen  to  die 
before  the  Assembly  shall  be  dissolved  by  order  of  both  Houses 
of  Parliament,  then  such  other  person  or  persons  shall  be  nomi- 
nated and  placed  in  the  room  and  stead  of  such  person  or  per- 
sons so  dying,  as  by  both  the  said  Houses  shall  be  thought  fit 
and  agreed  upon.  And  every  such  person  or  persons  so  to  be 
named  shall  have  the  like  power  and  authority,  freedom  and 
acquittal,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  also  all  such  wages 
and  allowances  for  the  said  service,  during  the  time  of  his  or 
their  attendance,  as  to  any  other  of  the  said  persons  in  this  ordi- 
nance named  is  by  this  ordinance  limited  and  appointed.  Pro- 
vided alwaj^s,  that  this  ordinance,  or  anything  therein  contained, 
shall  not  give  unto  the  persons  aforesaid,  or  any  of  them,  nor 
shall  they  in  this  Assembly  assume  to  exercise,  any  jurisdiction, 
power,  or  authority  ecclesiastical  whatsoever,  or  any  other  power 
than  is  herein  particularly  expressed." 

This  is  the  full  text  of  the  ordinance  summoning  the 
Assembly  and  appointing  its  work,  to  which  reference 
is  freq.uently  made  in  the  addresses  which  form  the  body 
of  this  volume.  The  full  list  of  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  is  also  added.  The  original  li.st  was  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one.  A  number  of  others  were  added  from 
time  to  time  to  take  the  place  of  some  who  never  attended 
and  of  others  who  died.  The  names  of  these  are  also 
given,  so  that  the  whole  list  may  be  entirely  complete. 

From  the  Lords. — The  Earl  of  Northumberland,  the  Earl  of 
Bedford,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  the  Earl  of 
Salisbury,  the  Earl  of  Holland,  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  the  Vis- 


Introduction.  xxxi 

count  of  Say  and  Sele,  the  Viscount  Conway,   Lord  Wharton, 
and  Lord  Howard  of  Eserick. 

From  the  Commons. — John  Selden,  Francis  Rouse,  Edmund 
Prideaux,  Henry  Vane,  senior,  John  Glynn,  John  White,  Bul- 
strode  Whitelocke,  Humphry  Salloway,  Serjeant  Wild,  Oliver 
St.  John,  Benjamin  Rudyard,  John  Pym,  John  Clotworthy, 
John  Maynard,  Henry  Vane,  junior,  William  Pierpont,  William 
Wheeler,  Thomas  Harrington,  John  Evelyn,  and  Walter  Young. 

Of  Divines.— John  Arrosmith,  Simeon  Ashe,  Theophilus 
Bathurst,  Thomas  Baylie,  Oliver  Bowles,  William  Bridge,  Ralph 
Brownrigg,  Richard  Buckley,  Anthony  Burgesse,  Cornelius 
Burges,  Jeremy  Burroughes,  Edmund  Calamy,  Richard  Capell, 
Joseph  Carrill,  John  Carter,  Thomas  Carter,  William  Carter, 
Thomas  Case,  Humphrey  Chambers,  Francis  Cheynell,  Peter 
Clerk,  Richard  Cleyton,  Francis  Coke,  Thomas  Coleman,  John 
Conant,  Edward  Corbet,  Robert  Crosse,  John  De  La  March, 
Samuel  De  La  Place,  Calibute  Downing,  WilUam  Dunning, 
Edward  ElUs,  John  Erie,  Daniel  Featley,  John  Foxcroft,  Han- 
nibal Gammon,  Thomas  Gataker,  John  Gibbon,  George  Gibbs, 
Samuel  Gibson,  Thomas  Goodwin,  William  Gouge,  Stanley 
Gower,  John  Green,  William  Greenhill,  John  Hacket,  Henry 
Hall.  Henry  Hammond,  John  Harris,  Robert  Harris,  Charles 
Herle,  Richard  Herrick,  Jasper  Hickes,  Thomas  Hill,  Samuel 
Hildersham,  Thomas  Hodges,  Richard  Holdsworth,  Joshua 
Hoyle,  Henry  Hutton,  John  Jackson,  William  Lance,  John 
Langley,  John  Ley,  John  Lightfoot,  Richard  Love,  William 
Lyford,  Stephen  Marshall,  William  Mew,  Thomas  Micklethwaite, 
William  Morton,  George  Morley,  Matthew  Newcomen,  William 
Nicholson,  Henry  Nye,  Philip  Nye,  Henry  Painter,  Herbert 
Palmer,  Christopher  Pashley,  Edward  Peale,  Andreas  Perne, 
John  Philips,  Benjamin  Pickering,  William  Price,  Nicholas 
Prophet,  John  Pyne,  William  Raynor,  Edward  Reynolds,  Arthur 
Sallaway,  Robert  Sanderson,  Henry  Scudder,  Lazarus  Seaman, 
Obadiah  Sedgewick,  Sidrach  Simpson,  Brocket  Smith,  William 
Spurstow,  Edmund  Stanton,  Peter  Sterry,  Matthias  Styles, 
Francis  Taylor,  Thomas  Temple,  Thomas  Thoroughgood,  Chris- 
topher Tisdale,  Henry  Tozer,  Anthony  Tuckney,  William  Twisse, 
James  Ussher,  Thomas  Valentine,  Richard  Vines,  George  Walker, 
Samuel  Ward,  James  Weldy,  Thomas  Westfield,  Francis  Whid- 
den,  John  Whincop,  Jeremiah  Whitaker,  John  White,  Henry 
Wilkinson,  senior,  Henry  Wilkinson,  junior,  Thomas  Wilson, 
Thomas  Wincop,  and  Thomas  Young. 


xxxii  Introduction. 

The  clerks  of  the  Assembly  were  Henr}-  Roborough, 
Adoniram  Byfield,  and  their  assistant  was  John  Wallis. 

The  Scottish  Commissioners. — Ministers:  Alexander  Hen- 
derson, Robert  Douglas,  Samuel  Rutherford,  Robert  Baillie,  and 
George  Gillespie.  Elders:  The  Earl  of  Cassilis,  Johnston  of 
Warriston,  and  Lord  Haitian d. 

The  following  members  were  added  during  the  sittings 
of  the  Assembly,  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  died  or 
never  sat : 

Lords.— The  Earl  of  Denbigh,  Lord  Grey  of  Warke,  the  Earl 
of  Bolingbroke,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick. 

Commoners.  —  Robert  Harley,  William  Massam,  William 
Stroud,  Arthur  Hazelrig,  Robert  Reynolds,  Zouch  Tate,  Gilbert 
Gerard,  Robert  Pye,  and  John  Cooke. 

Divines. — Francis  Woodcock,  John  Maynard,  Thomas  Clen- 
don,  Daniel  Cawdrey,  John  Dury,  William  Rathbone,  John 
Strickland,  William  Good,  John  Bond,  Humphry  Hardwick, 
John  Ward,  Edward  Corbet,  Philip  Delme,  Thomas  Ford, 
Richard  Byfield,  William  Strong,  Robert  Johnston,  and  Samuel 
Boulton. 

Scottish  Commissioners. — Robert  Meldrum,  the  Earl  of  Lou- 
don, Charles  Erskine,  Lord  Balmerino,  the  Marquis  of  Arg^-11, 
and  George  Winrham 

IV.  A  Brief  Bibliography. 

In  this  section  a  brief  account  of  some  of  the  more 
accessible  literature  which  pertains  to  the  "Westminster 
Assembly  and  the  work  which  it  did  is  given.  No 
analysis  or  criticism  of  this  literature  is  attempted,  but 
only  an  enumeration  of  those  books  which  may  enable 
the  reader  to  pursue  his  studies  at  length  upon  this  sub- 
ject is  made.  For  the  sake  of  orderly  statement,  the 
literature  in  question  is  arranged  in  several  classes,  but 
in  no  case  is  the  enumeration  exhaustive  or  complete. 

I .  For  the  secular  histor)'  of  the  era  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  only  a  few  books  require  to  be  named,  as  any 


Introduction.  xxxiii 

reliable  history  of  England  and  of  Scotland  will  suffice  to 
give  the  framework  of  the  secular  or  political  history  of 
the  time.  Froude's  History  of  England  VA  perhaps  about 
as  good  as  any.  Green's  History  of  the  English  People 
is  quite  complete,  and  generally  reliable,  if  not  always 
sympathetic .  Hallam '  s  Constitidional  History  of  England 
is  of  value  at  several  points.  For  Scotland,  Burton's 
History  of  Scotland  is  one  of  the  very  best  of  the  older 
treatises.  Gardiner's  History  of  England  is  very  volumi- 
nous and  complete,  and  Clarendon's  Works  are  the  most 
elaborate  of  all.  Then  the  Life  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  by 
Thomas  Carlyle,  though  it  has  the  flavor  of  hero-worship 
about  it,  should  be  read,  as  also  the  biographies  of  any 
of  the  chief  leaders  in  the  great  Puritan  struggle,  such 
as  Hampden,  Pym,  Milton,  and  others. 

2.  For  the  ecclesiastical  and  religiojis  history  of  this 
great  period,  any  good  treatise  on  Church  History  may  be 
read  with  profit,  though  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  very 
few  of  the  German  writers  on  church  history  do  justice 
to  this  period  in  Britain,  and  some  of  them  are  all  but 
silent  about  it.  Kurtz,  usually  accurate,  and  Geisseler, 
generally  comprehensive,  have  really  nothing  to  say 
about  the  Westminster  Assembly.  The  consequence  is 
that  we  have  to  rely  largely  on  English  authors  for  infor- 
mation upon  this  subject. 

Fisher's  History  of  the  Christian  Church  and  Schaff's 
Church  History  are  the  most  recent  treatises  on  the  whole 
subject  of  church  history.  Both  are  readable  and  instruc- 
tive, though  neither  can  be  said  to  be  entirely  sympa- 
thetic narratives  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Asseinbly. 
In  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformatio7i  the  connection 
between  the  Reform  movement  in  Britain  and  on  the 
continent  is  brought  out,  although  the  references  to  the 
period  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  are  rather  meagre. 
3 


xxxiv  Introduction. 

Of  the  older  works,  Burnet's  History  of  the  Refofmatioji 
is  one  of  the  most  elaborate.  Calderwood's  History  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  and  Wodrow's  Correspondence  are 
the  great  works  on  that  branch  of  the  subject.  As  works 
of  a  more  special  nature,  a  few  may  be  named.  Perry's 
History  of  the  Church  of  England  deals  with  the  matters 
in  question  from  the  Episcopal  point  of  view.  Hether- 
ington's  History  of  Scotland  is  perhaps  still  the  best 
single  book  on  this  aspect  of  the  subject.  A  very  com- 
plete work  is  Stoughton's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eng- 
land. For  the  Puritans,  Neal's  History  of  t/ie  Puritans 
and  Marsden's  Early  and  Late  Puritans  are  worthy  of  a 
prominent  place. 

Various  biographies  of  the  leading  men  of  the  time, 
■especially  of  prominent  members  of  the  Assembly,  may 
be  consulted  with  advantage.  For  Knox,  McCrie's  Life 
of  Knox  is  good,  as  also  his  Life  of  Melville.  Strype's 
Life  of  Parker  and  his  Life  of  Grindal  are  instructive. 
Brook's  Lives  of  the  Puritans  is  a  good  single  treatise  to 
give  some  information  about  most  of  the  leading  Puri- 
tans. Sto well's  History  of  the  Puritans  iii  England  is 
also  worthy  of  mention.  In  Bacon's  The  Genesis  of  the 
New  E^igland  Churches  there  is  a  good  account  of  the 
transplanting  of  Puritanism  from  Old  to  New  England. 
John  Fiske,  in  recent  writings,  is  informing. 

3.  For  the  History  of  the  Assembly  itself,  onlj-  a  tithe  of 
the  abundant  literature  which  lies  before  us  at  this  point 
of  view  can  be  named  here.  First  of  all,  Stanley's  Me- 
morials of  Westminster  Abbey  should  be  perused,  to  give 
a  vivid  impression  of  the  memorable  place  where  the 
Assembly  met.  For  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly, 
The  Minutes  of  the  Sessions  of  the  Westminster  Assembly 
of  Divines,  edited  by  Mitchell  and  Struthers,  is  of  the 
utmost  value.     The  official  manuscript  record  of  the  As- 


Introduction.  xxxv 

sembly  was  discovered  a  little  over  twenty  years  ago  in 
Dr.  Williams'  library,  in  London,  England,  and  has  been 
of  great  value.  Lightfoot's  Works,  and  especially  his 
Jou7  7ial  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  Divi?ies,  are 
full  of  information.  Gillespie's  Notes  of  the  Debates  and 
Proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  Divi?ies  at  Westminster 
should  be  set  beside  Lightfoot,  as  they  represent  two 
types  of  view.  Of  great  value  on  the  national  side  are 
The  Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  Oj  the  Hojise  of 
Coi?imo7is  during  the  period  when  the  Assembly  was  in 
session.  For  many  details  found  nowhere  else,  we  must 
go  to  Baillie's  Letters  and  Jozanals,  where  many  quaint 
and  shrewd  obsen^ations  are  found.  In  Fuller's  Works, 
in  Whitlocke's  Works,  and  in  Rushworth's  Works,  the 
reader  who  has  an  abundance  of  leisure  can  find  much 
of  primary  value. 

Some  of  the  most  recent  books  on  the  Assembly  and 
its  work  are  now  to  be  named.  Hetherington's  History 
of  the  Westmi?ister  Assembly,  edited  by  Williamson,  is 
brief  and  accurate;  and  Mitchell's  Westminster  Asse?nbly  : 
Its  History  and  Standards,  is  perhaps  the  best  single  popu- 
lar book  on  the  Assembly  yet  published.  It  is  TJie  Baird 
Lecture  for  1882,  and  is  of  real  interest  and  value.  In 
addition  to  these  we  may  mention  Reid's  Me^noirs  of  the 
Westmi?ister  Assembly,  Briggs'  Dociunentary  History  of 
the  Westminster  Asseinbly,  in  Presbyterian  Review  for 
18S0,  and  Schaff's  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Volume  I. 

4.  Touching  the  exposition  of  the  doctrinal  conte7its  of 
the  Westminster  Standards,  only  a  few  suggestions  may 
be  made.  Passing  by  the  great  treatises  on  theology 
which  represent  the  system  of  doctrine  and  polity  taught 
in  these  Standards,  some  books,  which  deal  directly  with 
them  in  an  expository  way,  are  here  set  down,  with  very 
brief  descriptions  when  deemed  useful.     Schaff's  Creeds 


xxxvi  Introductiox. 

of  Christendom  is  very  complete  and  informing  in  Volume 
III.,  though  the  exposition  made  is  not  always  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  the  definite  system  set  forth  in  the  Stan- 
dards. Shedd's  History  of  Dodtine,  though  too  brief  to 
satisfy,  is  worth  consulting  for  its  indirect  references. 
Mitchell's  work,  already  mentioned,  on  The  Westmiftster 
Assembly,  in  its  closing  chapters,  has  a  good  exposition 
of  the  doctrinal  contents  of  the  Standards.  A.  A.  Hodge's 
CommeJitary  on  the  Confession  of  Faith  is  of  very  great 
value,  and  is  as  good  as  any  treatise  on  the  Confession 
alone.  It  is  simple  and  sympathetic.  Somewhat  similar 
Expositions  of  the  Confession  at  the  hands  of  Dickson,  of 
Shaw,  and  of  Mitchell,  are  worthy  of  mention.  On  the 
Catechisms,  especially  the  Shorter,  there  is  a  small  library 
of  literature.  The  authors  we  may  mention  are  Vincent, 
Watson,  Flavel,  WillivSon,  Brown,  Fisher,  Steele,  Mair, 
Green,  Hodge,  all  of  whom  have  done  good  service  on 
the  Catechisms.  Beattie's  The  Presbyterian  Standards 
binds  together  and  seeks  to  blend  into  one  complete 
exposition  the  contents  of  the  Confession  and  both  Cate- 
chisms. For  an  exposition  of  the  Larger  Catechism 
alone,  Ridgeley's  Body  of  Divinity  is  deserving  of  notice,^ 
when  so  few  treatises  deal  directly  with  the  Larger  Cate- 
chism. 

To  call  attention  to  literature  which  is  in  danger  of 
being  neglected,  we  mention  a  few  works  which  deal 
with  the  polity,  discipliyie  ayid  zvorship  of  the  church  in 
their  relation  to  the  Westminster  Assembly,  which  was 
convened  to  deal  with  these  matters  as  much  if  not  more 
than  with  the  subject  of  doctrine. 

A  few  of  the  rare  old  treatises  which  were  produced  in 
the  Westminster  era  are  named  first :  Gillespie's  Aaroyi's 
Rod  Blossomi?2g  is  perhaps  the  ablest  plea  for  Presbj'tery 
ever   made.      Rutherford's   A    Peaceable  Plea  for  Paid's 


Introduction.  xxxvii 

Presbytery  is  valuable  also.  Baillie's  A  Dissuasive  from 
the  Errors  of  the  Times  is  a  curious  old  work.  By  field's 
Grand  Debate  between  Presbytery  and  Independency  gives 
a  vivid  sketch  of  the  Assembly  debate  on  this  question. 
Baxter's  Five  Disputations  of  Chnrch  Government  and 
Worship  is  a  capital  old  work.  King's  Inquiry  into  the 
Constitution,  Discipline,  Unity  and  Worship  of  the  Primi- 
tive Church  is  another  ver}^  elaborate  product  of  this 
period.  Anderson's  A  Defence  of  the  Chtirch  Government, 
Faith,  Worship  and  Spirit  of  the  Presbyterians  was  pub- 
lished a  generation  or  two  after  the  Westminster  era, 
and  has  much  merit. 

Of  more  recent  works  the  following  may  be  noted: 
Brown's  Constitution,  Gover^iment  and  Discipliiie  of  the 
Christian  Chzirch  is  comprehensive.  Miller's  Presbyterian- 
ism  and  other  works  are  of  much  value  for  plain  readers. 
Smyth's  Presbytery,  not  Prelacy,  the  Scj  iptural  and  Primi- 
tive Polity  is  valuable  for  the  literature  which  it  brings 
before  the  reader.  In  both  Hetherington's  and  Mitchell's 
works,  already  named  in  another  connection,  there  is 
much  on  this  topic  also.  Bannerman's  The  Christiayi 
Church  is  an  able  recent  treatise  on  the  Presbyterian  side. 
Hodge's  Discussions  in  Church  Polity  is  of  permanent 
value.  Peck's  Ecclesiology  and  Girardeau's  Instrumental 
Music  in  the  Christia?i  Church  have  special  value  on  their 
respective  topics.  It  must  be  added  that  in  Thornwell's 
Collected  Writifigs  there  is  much  of  lasting  importance, 
and  that  the  same  may  be  said  of  Dabney's  Discussiofis, 
recently  published.  Johnson's  History  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  ought  to  be  named  here  also. 

Useful  articles  on  polity,  discipline  and  worship,  from 
the  Presbyterian  point  of  view,  may  be  found  in  the 
various  volumes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Councils  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System. 


xxxviii  Introduction. 

5.  Touching  the  influe7ices  of  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly, only  a  few  suggestions  as  to  literature  can  be  made, 
for  to  set  down  everything  here  would  be  to  catalogue 
the  literature  of  the  history  of  Puritanism  and  Presby- 
terianism  on  two  continents,  and  to  give  an  account  of 
that  struggle  for  the  civil  and  religious  liberty  which  we 
now  enjoy.  For  Scotland,  Buchanan's  Ten  Years'  Con- 
flict brings  out  the  working  of  the  principles  laid  down 
by  the  Westminster  Assembly  in  the  Disruption  struggle. 
McCrie's  Annals  of  English  Presbytery  tells  the  story  for 
England.  For  America,  Hill's  American  Presbyferianism, 
Hodge's  Constitidio7ial  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  Gillett's  History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  hi  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
Briggs'  America7i  Presbyterianisvi,  will  suffice  for  the 
United  States,  while  Gregg's  History  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ca7iada  is  the  complete  work  for  the  Dominion, 

For  the  Puritan  stream  of  influence,  in  addition  to 
books  already  named  in  other  connections,  Edwin  Hall's 
The  Pii7ita7is  a7id  their  Pfinciples  may  be  mentioned  as 
one  of  many  books  which  might  be  noted  here. 

For  the  influence  of  the  principles  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  on  civil  liberty,  many  books  might  be  named, 
but  we  can  only  refer  in  a  general  way  to  those  books 
which  treat  of  the  long  struggle  for  constitutional  govern- 
ment in  Britain  and  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  to 
those  numerous  treatises  which  deal  with  the  American 
Revolution  ;  for  in  all  of  these  the  legitimate  outcome  of 
these  principles  is  to  be  seen. 


RKV.  HKNRV  A.   WHITE.   iM.  A..   I'h     D.     U.    D. 


I. 

THE  SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF 
BRITAIN  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  CALLING  OF 
THE  WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY,  WITH  SPE- 
CIAL REFERENCE  TO  THOSE  ASPECTS  OF  THE 
TIMES  THAT  (a),  PREPARED  THE  WAY  FOR 
THE  CALLING  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY,  AND  (d), 
EXERTED  AN  INFLUENCE  ON  IT  WHEN 
CALLED. 

BY 

Rev.  henry  a.  WHITE,  M.  A.,  Ph.D.,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR    IN    WASHINGTON    AND    LEE    UNIVERSITY, 
LEXINGTON,    VIRGINIA. 


ANALYSIS. 

The  situation  in  1643. — In  Virginia. — In  Massachusetts. — In 
Europe. — Assembly  convened. — ^Scotch  Commissioners. — Assem- 
bly's task. — Directory  of  Worship  reported. — Confession  framed. 
— Catechisms  made. — Charles  I.  executed. — The  Standards  the 
product  of  a  great  movement. — Homer  referred  to. — Social  and 
politicallifeof  Britain  reviewed. — England  in  1543. — Henry  VIII. 
— Germany. —  Luther. —  Calvin. —  Scotland. — Wishart.^Thomas 
Cromwell. — Coverdale's  Bible. — New  Anglican  church. — Cran- 
mer. — Romanism  checked. — Mary. — Philip  of  Spain. — Sore  per- 
secutions.— Martyrs'  blood  the  church's  seed. — Elizabeth. — Eng- 
land awakes. — Social  advance. — Holland  and  France. — Knox. — 
Protestant  sentiment. — Parliament  active. ^ — Pope,  interferes  in 
vain. — Mary  Stuart.- — The  Armada. — Popery  described. — Its  rise. 
— Its  nature. — Political  Rome  because  papal  Rome. — The  scarlet 
woman. — Church  of  England  in  1570. — Vestments. — Marian  exiles 
return. — Debate  arises. — Puritans  appear. — Elizabeth's  attitude. 
— Council  of  Trent. — Jesuits. — Puritans  largely  Presbyterians. — 
Hooker  and  Bancroft. — Calvinism  and  James  I. — A  crisis. — James 
a  bigot  and  a  tyrant. — Hated  Presbytery. — Puritans  petition 
James. — The  king  haughty. — Great  conflict. — Puritans  versus 
Romanists.— Parliament  versus  king. — Some  Puritans  fled  the 
country. — Most  remained. — Charles  I. — Conflict  deepens. — Civil 
and  religious. — Arminianism  versus  Calvinism. — The  Bible  read. 
— Laud  persecuted. — Morals  decline. — Spiritual  life  at  stake.— 
Calvinism  to  the  rescue. — Scotland  and  Laud. — Jennie  Geddes. 
Presbytery  restored  in  Scotland. — King  and  Parliament. — Long 
Parliament.  —  Pym.  —  Laud  in  prison.  —  Strafford  executed. — 
Charles  checked. — Grievances. — War  begins.— Army  of  the  Com- 
mons under  Essex. — Westminster  Assembly  summoned  in  1643. — 
Thirty-nine  Articles  revised. — Cromwell. — Pym  and  Scotland. — 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant — The  Scotch  army. — Assembly's 
work. — English  Presbyterianism  leads. — English  and  Scottish 
Puritanism  differ. — Commons  largely  Presbyterian. — Polity. — 
Standards  the  product  of  English  theology  and  Scottish  faith. — 
Several  parties  in  Assembly. — Debates. — Cromwell  gave  Inde- 
pendents force. — Presbyterianism  never  had  firm  foothold  in 
England.— Religious  toleration. — Presbytery  broke  the  power  of 
absolutism. — Presbyterian  churches  in  America  the  heirs  of  this 
victory. — Scotch-Irish  and  American  Presbyterians  made  the 
work  complete. — Exhortation  to  loyalty  and  devotion. 


THE 

WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY. 


SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  BRITAIN 
AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  CALLING  OF  THE 
WESTMINSTER.   ASSEMBLY. 


THE  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  was  con- 
vened in  the  Westminster  Abbey,  London,  in  the 
year  1643.  On  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  it  was  the  era 
of  colony-planting,  when  none  but  members  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  were  permitted  to  dwell  in  the  Tide- 
water region  of  Virginia,  and  when  none  but  members 
of  the  Congregational  Church  could  vote  and  hold  office 
in  Massachusetts.  On  the  farther  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
the  year  1643  marked  the  central  period  in  the  long 
struggle  for  conscience  and  for  freedom,  when  the  princes 
of  the  earth  were  taking  counsel  together  to  establish 
the  doctrines  of  religion  through  the  agency  of  the  sword, 
when  Romanists  and  Protestants  on  the  continent  were 
•engaged  in  the  tragedy  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  when 
the  infant  Louis  XIV.  was  just  ascending  the  most 
powerful  throne  in  Europe,  when  Calvinists  and  Armin- 
ians  were  holding  fierce  debate  in  Holland,  when  John 
Milton  was  waging  battle  for  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
when  Richard  Baxter  was  learning  how  to  preach  and 
how  to  pray,  and  Oliver  Cromwell  was  acquiring  the  art 


2  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

of  cavalry  leadership  in  the  field  of  war  against  King- 
Charles  I. 

The  booming  of  guns  was  borne  to  London  on  nearly 
every  breeze  from  the  north  and  west  during  the  summer 
of  1643.  Saturday,  the  first  day  of  July  in  that  year, 
saw  a  vast  throng  assembled  in  the  Abbey  church, 
Westminster.  In  obedience  to  the  call  of  England's 
body  of  law-makers  the  city  on  the  Thames  sent  devout 
men  and  women  to  crowd  the  house  of  worship.  Dr. 
William  Twisse,  the  Puritan  minister  from  the  town  of 
Newbury,  occupied  the  pulpit.  Ten  members  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  twenty  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  sixty-nine  ministers  of  the  gospel  from  all 
England,  sat  in  the  congregation  to  hear  the  elaborate 
discourse  from  the  text,  John  xiv.  18 :  "I  will  not  leave 
you  comfortless  :  I  will  come  to  you. ' '  After  service 
the  ministers  and  members  of  Parliament  betook  them- 
selves to  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  and  there  gave  answer  to 
their  names  as  the  clerk  called  the  official  roll  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly. 

Among  the  clergy  of  that  Assembly  were  a  few 
Huguenots ;  all  the  rest  had  received  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion in  England.  One  bishop  in  full  canonical  dress 
held  a  seat.  Nearly  all  were  clad  in  the  plain,  simple 
garb  of  Puritan  ministers.  On  July  8,  the  entire  Assem- 
bly took  the  oath  of  office  as  a  governmental  com  mission 
und^r  the  authority  of  the  English  Parliament,  charged 
with  the  business  of  revising  and  amending  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Under  our  form  of  government  the  Assemblj^  might  be 
termed  a  constitutional  convention,  called  to  consider 
ecclesiastical  law. 

September  15  marked  the  reception  of  commissioners 
from  Scotland  as  corresponding   members.      Ten    days 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  3 

later  the  Assembly  and  the  Parliament  gave  pledge  to 
keep  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  with  Scotland, 
and  thus  the  two  kingdoms  were  bound  together  by 
formal  treaty  to  wage  war  against  King  Charles  I. 

Not  the  revision  of  the  old  church  constitution,  but  the 
construction  of  a  new  governmental  basis  for  the  church 
in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  was  the  work  now  laid 
upon  the  Assembly  by  the  Parliament.  The  law-makers 
resolved  to  root  out  Episcopacy  and  to  plant  Presbj^eri- 
anism  in  the  realm.  The  Episcopal  members  shook 
from  their  feet  the  dust  of  Henrj-VII.'s  Chapel,  and 
journeyed  homeward.  Additional  Puritan  members 
came  to  assist  in  the  work  of  revolution.  The  entire 
Assembly  took  up  its  abode  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber, 
and  there,  in  the  presence  of  the  sacred  tapestry,  they 
prepared  those  standards  in  church  government  and  doc- 
trine which  form  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
system  of  churches  throughout  the  earth. 

One  year  of  labor  and  of  fierce  debate  resulted  in  the 
formulation  of  the  new  frame  of  church  government  and 
the  new  order  of  religious  service.  On  January  4,  1645, 
the  House  of  Commons  passed  sentence  of  death  on 
William  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  gave 
sanction  to  the  Assembly's  Directory  of  Worship.  Thus 
' '  the  archbishop  and  the  old  service-book  died  together. ' ' 

Before  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  April  29, 
1647,  the  Assembly  presented  those  articles  of  belief  and 
doctrine,  with  Scripture-texts  annexed,  which  we  revere 
as  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  The  close  of 
the  year  1648  saw  the  Assembly's  active  work  com- 
pleted with  the  Shorter  and  Larger  Catechisms.  The 
Long  Parliament  gave  official  sanction  to  the  entire  series 
of  ecclesiastical  symbols  elaborated  by  the  Westminster 
Assembly,    and    immediately    afterwards,    in    January, 


4  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

1649,  this  same  Parliament  sent  King  Charles  I.  to  die  / 
on  the  scaflfold.  The  Presbyterian  system  of  doctrine  / 
and  polity  became  the  basis  of  the  established  religion  of 
England  at  the  moment  when  the  old  theory  of  the  divine 
right  of  kings  was  virtually  overthrown.  In  the  West- 
minster Assembly  we  may  behold  Calvinism  putting  on 
the  whole  armor  of  God,  likewise  taking  the  shield  of 
faith  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  going  forth  unto 
the  final  battle  against  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  West- 
minster Standards,  constituting  the  complete  charter  of 
the  freedom  of  the  individual  conscience,  thus  embody 
the  primary  principles  of  that  mighty  ecclesiastical  and 
political  movement  of  the  seventeenth  century  that  gave 
both  religious  and  civil  liberty  to  the  people  of  the  king- 
dom of  England. 

When  the  Greek  poet.  Homer,  wishes  to  portray  the 
beauty  and  the  mechanism  of  a  certain  famous  warrior's 
shield,  he  invites  the  reader  into  the  fabled  workshop  to 
see  the  crude  metals  under  the  measured  beating  of 
hammers  gradually  forged  into  shape.  In  like  manner 
let  us  seek  to  lay  bare  the  heart  of  the  English  people  in 
the  days  of  the  Tudors  and  of  the  Stuarts.  Let  us  watch 
the  operation  of  those  national  forces  that  were  casting  in 
the  mould  of  Protestantism  the  social  and  political  life  of 
England  and  Scotland.  Let  us  examine  the  form  and 
spirit  of  the  national  organism  during  the  century  preced- 
ing the  Westminster  Assembly,  if,  perchance,  we  may 
discern 

'What  anvils  rang,  what  hammers  beat. 
In  what  a  forge,  and  what  a  heat," 

were  shaped  the  war  shields  of  our  hope. 

When  we  turn  our  steps  backward  in  time  through  a 
period  of  one   hundred   years,  we  may   look    upon   the 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  5 

England  of  1543.  The  Anglo-Saxon  realm  is  attempt- 
ing the  beginner's  part  upon  the  stage  of  European 
politics.  Under  the  leadership  of  King  Henry  VIII. 
England  is  entangling  herself  in  the  masquerade  of 
mingled  bluster  and  treachery  on  the  continent  where 
Spain  and  France  are  the  leading  actors.  King  Henry, 
second  monarch  of  the  House  of  Tudor,  uniting  in  his 
own  person  the  royal  dignity  of  the  ancient  lival  lines  of 
York  and  Lancaster,  has  worn  for  more  than  twenty 
years  the  title,  accorded  him  by  the  Pope,  of  {Fidei  De- 
fensor) Defender  of  the  Faith.  The  king  bears  well  the 
weight  of  his  two-and-fifty  years,  and  seems  untroubled 
by  the  memory  of  two  wives  executed  upon  the  scaffold, 
for,  with  only  four  years  of  life  yet  remaining,  he  is 
seeking  his  sixth  royal  consort.  King  Henry  is  no 
longer  the  defender  of  the  Pope's  ancient  dignity.  Dur- 
ing a  period  of  ten  years  England  has  been  in  a  state  of 
revolt  against  the  political  authority  of  the  papacy,  and 
the  monarch  of  the  realm  is  the  legal  head  of  the  Church 
of  England. 

In  this  same  year,  1543,  we  may  look  across  the 
channel  into  Germany  to  behold  the  hero  who  bearded 
the  papal  lion  in  his  den  at  Wittenberg  and  at  Worms. 
Martin  Luther  has  three  years  of  life  yet  left  for  breath- 
ing his  own  warlike  spirit  into  the  growing  Protestant 
party  on  the  continent.  Only  four  and  twenty  years 
have  passed  away  since  the  public  Disputation  of  Leipsic, ' 
wherein  he  made  the  earliest  avowal  of  the  conviction 
that  the  church  can  exist  without  a  pope.  Since  1520 
the  German  people  have  been  reading  his  declarations 
that  the  priest  is  only  a  ministerial  officer,  and  that  the 
consecration  by  bishops  might  be  dispensed  with";  that 
without  faith  the  sacraments  are  useless,^  and  that  it 

'  July,  1519.  -Address  to  the  German  nobility. 

^The  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church. 


6  The  WestminsterAssembly. 

is  foolish  presumption  ' '  to  seek  justification  through 
works.'"  Since  1530  the  Lutheran  theology  has  been 
set  forth  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  prepared  by  Me- 
lanchthon  :  a  time  still  later,  1537,  is  marked  by  Luther's 
Smalcald  Articles,  signed  by  the  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany,  who  take  oath,  under  Luther's  direction,  to 
draw  the  sword  against  their  emperor,  if  needs  be,  in 
the  defence  of  their  religious  creed.  The  last  days  of 
the  reformer  are  filled  with  exhortations  addressed  to  his 
followers  to  stand  firm  and  keep  the  faith  in  the  battle 
that  draweth  nigh. 

In  1 543  we  may  see  John  Calvin  exalted  to  the  seat  of 
chief  law-giver  in  the  Christian  commonwealth  of  Geneva. 
Calvin  has  just  attained  the  age  of  thirty-four,  and  even 
already  during  the  previous  seven  years  his  Institutes  of 
the  Christian  Religion  have  been  leavening  the  religious 
thought  of  Switzerland,  Holland  and  France  with  the 
great  principle  of  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God. 

When  we  turn  northward  in  this  same  year  we  ob- 
serve the  superstition  of  Romanism  still  hovering  like  a 
dark  cloud  over  the  land  of  the  Scots.  Loyaltj^  to  the 
papacy  has  led  King  James  V.  and  his  nobles,  in  the 
previous  year,  to  make  war  against  Henry  of  England, 
only  to  suffer  disaster  in  the  battle  at  Sol  way  Moss.  And 
now  King  James  V.  is  dead  and  the  blood  of  the  French 
Guises,  in  the  person  of  the  infant  Mary  Stuart,  holds  the 
title  to  the  throne  of  Scotland.  But  the  darkness  of  the 
hour  is  made  bright  by  the  flames  of  a  beacon-light  of 
glory.  George  Wishart,  Scotland's  second  Protestant 
martyr,  is  yielding  up  his  life  at  St.  Andrews  at  the 
stake,  unto  which  Beaton,  the  Romish  cardinal,  has 
ordered  him  to  be  bound.  Wishart' s  death  is  not  in 
vain,    for   his   teachings   against    the   authority   of  the 

'  Christian  Liberty. 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  7 

Church  of  Rome  have  found  a  seed-bed  in  the  mind  of 
John  Knox. 

Ten  years  of  Thomas  Cromwell's  policy  of  exalting 
the  royal  authority  in  England  has  set  the  realm  adrift 
from  its  papal  moorings.  Any  man  who  denies  that  the 
king  is  the  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of  England  is 
liable  to  a  traitor's  death.  In  theory  this  church  is  still 
in  harmony  with  the  Romish  congregations  on  the  conti- 
nent. She  maintains  practically  every  point  of  Romish 
doctrine,  uses  the  Latin  service-book  and  governs  ecclesi- 
astical affairs  through  the  agency  of  archbishops  and 
bishops.  But  King  Henry  VIII.  has  taken  steps  that 
will  lead  ere  long  to  changes  in  doctrine.  He  has  ap- 
propriated the  papal  revenues,  has  assumed  the  right  to 
appoint  church  officials,  and  has  made  booty  of  the  lands 
and  treasures  of  the  English  monasteries .  Beyond  all  these 
revolutionary  acts,  the  king  has  given  to  his  people  the 
Word  of  God  translated  into  their  native  form  of  speech. 
In  1536,  Henry  and  Cromwell  authorized  the  circulation 
of  Coverdale's  edition  of  the  Bible  in  English.  At  noon- 
day in  each  parish  church  in  this  year,  1543,  we  may, 
perhaps,  behold  a  group  of  peasants  gathered  about  the 
pulpit  where  the  open  Bible  rests.  Perchance  the  father 
reads  the  sacred  pages  to  his  listening  family,  and  then 
all  betake  themselves  to  the  field,  there  to  labor  and  to 
meditate  upon  the  inspired  message.  The  ploughman 
carries  a  portion  of  the  printed  word  in  his  bosom,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  furrow  pauses  to  drop  into  the  memory 
some  of  the  words  that  will  eventually  bear  fruit  in  the 
great  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  revolution  among  the 
masses  of  the  English  people.  When  we  pass  to  the 
England  of  King  Edward  VI.,  we  see  a  beautiful  edifice, 
the  new  Anglican  church,  springing  out  of  the  heart  of 
the  nation  to  the  sound  of  the  sweetest  music  known  to 


8  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

mortal  ears,  the  chanting  of  spiritual  psalms  and  hymns 
in  the  English  tongue.  Archbishop  Cranmer  has  organ- 
ized the  Church  of  England  upon  the  basis  of  the  Epis 
copal  form  of  government,  but  he  composes  a  new  prayer- 
book  in  the  English  language,  and  has  arranged  a 
doctrinal  system  of  Forty-two  Articles  of  belief  drawn 
from  the  Augsburg  Confession,  with  the  adoption  of 
the  Calvinistic  teaching  concerning  the  Lord's  supper. 
Throughout  the  kingdom  there  is  continued  smashing  of 
images  and  of  painted  glass  in  the  churches.  Romish 
doctrines  have  received  a  staggering  blow. 

In  the  pathway  of  the  reform  movement  stands  the 
daughter  of  Henry  VIII.  and  of  his  first  wife,  Catherine 
of  Arragon.  Queen  Mary  yields  her  hand  in  marriage  to 
that  dark-browed  so^::  of  Spain,  King  Philip,  and  hastens 
to  deluge  her  realm  with  the  blood  of  Protestant  martyrs. 
She  entertains  at  her  royal  court  an  agent  of  the  Pope, 
and  commands  the  celebration  of  the  Romish  mass 
throughout  the  kingdom.  Those  who  disobey  the  man- 
date are  forced  into  exile,  into  prison,  or  to  the  stake. 
John  Rogers  dies  in  the  flames  at  Smithneld  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  wife  and  babes.  Bishop  Hooper  is  chained 
to  the  stake  at  Gloucester,  and  Rowland  Taylor  perishes 
in  like  manner  at  Suffolk.  Bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer 
are  burnt  at  Oxford.  "Be  of  good  comfort,  Master 
Ridley,  and  play  the  man,"  cries  Latimer  when  the  fire 
is  kindled  at  his  feet.  ' '  We  shall  this  da}^  light  such  a 
candle,  by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust  shall 
never  be  put  out."  Archbishop  Cranmer  himself,  after 
six  recantations  written  all  in  vain,  is  led  out  to  die.  He 
regains  a  firmer  mind  when  death  is  imminent  and  re- 
vokes his  recantations.  As  the  flames  leap  up  around 
him,  Cranmer  holds  his  right  hand  steadily  in  the  midst 
of  them,  saying,  "This  hand  hath  offended." 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  9 

The  despotism  of  Bloody  Mary  was  without  avail. 
The  blood  of  the  martyrs  became  the  seed  of  a  stronger 
Protestant  church.  The  heart  of  the  nation  was  aroused 
to  deliver  battle  even  unto  the  death  against  the  arch- 
tyrant  in  Rome.  To-day  we  claim  a  share  in  the  halo  of 
glory  that  encircles  the  brow  of  each  individual  in  the 
noble  army  of  martyrs  of  Mary's  reign.  They  died  in 
behalf  of  English  liberty  as  threatened  by  papal  tyranny  ; 
they  died  in  defence  of  the  Lutheran-Calvinistic  system 
of  doctrine ;  they  died  for  the  right  to  worship  God  in  that 
form  of  speech  that  is  native  to  Anglo-Saxon  lips. 

A  new  England  is  spread  before  us  as  we  enter  the 
realm  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  From  1 558  to  1603  she  directs 
the  destiny  of  the  growing  commercial  empire  that  still 
continues  to  dominate  the  modern  world.  It  is  the  era 
when  Spenser,  Ben  Jonson,  and  Shakespeare  hold  sway 
in  the  realm  of  literature.  The  spirit  of  modern  progress 
manifests  great  vigor.  The  sails  of  the  English  traders 
begin  to  whiten  every  sea.  It  is  the  epoch  when  ex-' 
plorers  flourish  ;  when  Walter  Raleigh  sends  expeditions 
in  search  of  colonial  homes,  and  when  Elizabeth's  gallant 
sea-dogs,  under  the  leadership  of  Francis  Drake,  singe 
the  beard  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  drive  his  vessels 
from  the  great  waters.  It  is  the  age  of  growing  science 
and  of  great  inventions.  It  is  only  in  Elizabeth's  time 
that  men  discover  the  phenomenal  facts  that  light  may 
be  introduced  into  a  house  through  window-glass ;  that 
a  chimney  will  lead  smoke  to  the  top  of  a  building ;  that 
a  mattress,  laid  upon  a  wooden  framework,  offers  a  more 
comfortable  resting-place  than  a  straw  pallet ;  that  a 
feather  pillow  gives  a  more  gentle  support  to  the  head 
than  a  log  of  wood ;  and  that  pewter  plates  and  tin  spoons 
are  of  greater  utility  and  beauty  than  utensils  manufac- 
tured from  wood. 


lo  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

■  This  epoch  witnesses  a  wonderful  development  in  na- 
tional sentiment  among  the  people  of  England.  Across 
the  channel  they  can  see  the  heroism  of  the  people  of 
Holland,  who  are  organizing  the  Dutch  Republic  in  the 
face  of  Spanish  oppression.  The  Huguenots  of  France, 
in  1572,  pour  out  their  blood  in  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew.  John  Knox  bears  the  teachings  of  Calvin 
from  Geneva  to  Scotland ,  and  the  Presbyterian  system  is 
there  lifting  up  its  head  against  Mary  Stuart  and  Roman- 
ism. All  around  the  horizon  the  Protestants  are  in  the 
thickest  fury  of  the  battle,  and  their  call  is  heard  in  Eng- 
land. Her  people  have  made  good  use  of  the  preceding 
thirty  years,  and  the  new  generation  is  familiar  with  the 
Bible  given  them  by  Coverdale.  The  strong  Protestant 
sentiment  of  the  majority  of  her  subjects  leads  Elizabeth 
to  make  a  complete  breach  with  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  queen  is  Lutheran  in  her  personal  religious  creed. 
She  takes  to  herself  the  title  of  Supreme  Governor  of  the 
Church,  and  adopts  Cranmer's  Prayer-Book  as  the  order 
for  religious  services.  Parliament  removes  three  articles 
from  the  creed  of  Cranmer's  time  and  reissues  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  as  the  constitution  of  the  Anglican  Church. 
In  the  matter  of  doctrine,  as  well  as  in  the  matter  of 
political  authority,  England  is  now  in  complete  revolt  from 
the  papacy.  Not  until  this  time,  the  year  1570,  does  the 
Pope  make  use  of  his  most  potent  agencies  to  force  the 
rebellious  kingdom  into  submission.  He  issues  a  decree 
assuming  to  depose  Elizabeth  from  her  throne,  and  be- 
gins a  series  of  intrigues  and  plots  to  elevate  Mary  Stuart 
to  the  seat  of  sovereignty  in  F^ngland.  But  Elizabeth's  po- 
litical prestige  is  unassailable.  She  can  snap  her  fingers 
at  the  man  in  Rome  because  a  Calvinistic  people  stand 
with  drawn  sword  to  support  their  royal  leader.  Mary 
Stuart  is  sent  to  the  block,  the  Spanish  Armada  is  scat- 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  ii 

tered  and  broken  upon  the  crags  of  the  North  Sea,  and 
England  is  pushed  forward  to  a  position  of  strength  in 
the  world  of  European  politics  by  reason  of  the  uncon- 
querable spirit  of  Anglo-Saxon  Calvinism. 

While  the  Pelagianism  of  Rome  thus  enters  into  deadly 
conflict  with  the  Augustinianism  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, let  us  pause  in  our  narrative  to  discern  the  actual 
political  and  social  character  of  the  papacy.  In  its  origin 
and  in  its  administration,  the  papacy  was  a  political  des- 
potism, the  incarnation  of  the  kingdom  of  this  world.  It 
was  the  result  of  a  two- fold  development  whereby  the 
bishop  of  the  city  of  Rome  attained  great  authority  as  a 
temporal  sovereign,  and  at  the  same  time  climbed  to  the 
position  of  head  of  the  entire  church. 

As  late  as  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era  the 
bishop  of  Rome  had  no  authority  outside  of  his  own 
diocese.  In  the  fourth  century,  however,  he  became 
patriarch  of  the  territory  around  Rome.  The  prestige  of 
Rome  was  gradually  transferred  to  the  bishop  of  the 
city,  and  a  religious  basis  was  afterwards  invented  for 
his  assumed  authority.  He  played  the  part  of  cham- 
pion for  all  the  churches  of  Western  Europe,  and  these 
churches  gradually  began  to  acknowledge  his  superior 
ofiicial  dignity.  The  Council  of  Chalcedon  (451  A.  D.), 
in  its  twenty-eighth  canon,  accorded  high  honor  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome  because  of  his  residence  in  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  empire,  but  ascribed  equal  honor  to  the 
bishop  of  Constantinople  because  he  dwelt  in  the  city  of 
the  emperor.  Leo,  bishop  of  Rome,  made  protest  against 
this  canon,  and  claimed  for  himself  the  place  of  highest 
honor  in  the  church  because  he  was  the  alleged  successor 
of  St.  Peter,  whom  he  called  the  first  of  the  apostles. 
Leo  based  his  entire  claim  of  primacy  in  the  church  upon 
the  untenable  theory  that  Peter  possessed  superior  autho- 


12  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

rity  over  the  other  apostles,  and  that  he  was  the  founder 
and  first  bishop  of  the  church  in  Rome.  In  order  to 
give  legal  basis  to  this  bold  assumption,  a  stupendous 
series  of  forged  documents  were  brought  forward  to  sus- 
tain the  Roman  bishop's  claim  of  authority  over  temporal 
rulers.  Vast  territories  were  given  the  bishop  by  the 
Emperor  Charlemagne,  and  thenceforward,  through  in- 
trigue and  diplomacy,  the  bishop  of  the  city  of  Rome, 
under  the  title  of  pope,  asserted  his  supreme  authority 
in  the  church  and  finally  in  the  state.  The  papacy  be- 
came supreme  over  all  Europe. 

In  imitation  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  empire  of  the 
church  was  marked  oif  into  provinces.  Over  each  one  of 
these  was  placed  an  archbishop,  with  ancient  proconsular 
powers.  Each  province  was  divided  into  dioceses  and 
parishes,  and  over  these  were  established  bishops  and 
priests  in  supreme  authority.  In  this  vast  govern- 
mental web  all  the  threads  were  bound  fast  to  Rome, 
and  the  great  spider  in  the  centre  of  the  network  was 
the  Pope.  Monasteries  filled  with  armies  of  monks  held 
vast  regions  in  the  name  of  their  master  in  Rome.  The 
Pope  was  superior  to  kings  and  princes  in  every  countr}" 
in  Europe,  and  his  officials  were  not  subject  to  the  civil 
laws  of  any  land.  Papal  agents  were  ambassadors, 
privy  councillors,  and  prime  ministers  at  the  European 
courts.  Learning  and  literature  were  controlled  by  the 
Pope's  subordinates.  The  legal  title  to  one-third  of  the 
land  in  Europe  was  vested  in  the  papacy.  From  one- 
half  to  four-fifths  of  the  public  revenue  from  the  various 
nations  went  into  the  papal  treasury  at  Rome.  The 
papal  empire  had  active  charge  of  education,  politics, 
and  social  affairs  and  dominated  the  entire  lives  of  men 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  The  papacy  developed  a 
system  of  theology  that  was  entirely  an  affair  of  the  head 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  13 

and  not  of  the  soul.  In  its  sacramental  theory  it  virtu- 
ally claimed  divine  power  for  the  clerg3^  The  sacra- 
ment was  supposed  to  produce  its  effect  opere  operato,  by 
the  mere  performance  of  the  clerical  act  itself,  without 
reference  to  the  individual  upon  whom  the  act  was 
wrought.  None  but  the  priest  could  baptize  the  infant, 
perform  the  rite  of  marriage,  administer  blessing  to  the 
dying,  or  bury  the  dead.  In  most  cases  the  priests  and 
bishops  were  the  sole  administrators  of  estates.  All 
these  public  and  private  interests  were  in  thehands  of  the 
clergy,  and  money  was  demanded  for  the  performance  of 
every  ecclesiastical  serv'ice.  Rome  was  the  centre  of  the 
political  and  social  life  of  Europe.  At  the  same  time 
Rome  was  the  centre  of  all  political  and  spiritual  wicked- 
ness. Under  the  papacy  the  very  light  that  men  possessed 
became  darkness. 

The  guilt  of  papal  Rome !  The  blackness  of  the 
guilt  of  the  line  of  church  ofi&cials  who  claimed  to  be 
shepherds,  but  were  only  wolves  !  In  Luther's  time 
Rome  was  in  very  truth  the  scarlet  woman  !  Sixtus  IV. 
was  pope  from  147 1  to  1484.  Poison  and  the  dagger 
were  his  favorite  methods  of  removing  opponents.  His 
personal  vices  are  unnamable.  Alexander  VI.  (Roderigo 
Borgia)  held  the  office  from  1492  until  1503.  Under  his 
direction  church  oflfices  were  sold  at*  auction ;  cardinals 
and  bishops  were  given  poison  at  his  table.  His  son 
Caesar  was  a  monster  of  lust,  who  indulged  in  murder  as 
if  it  were  a  pastime. 

Julius  II.  held  the  office  of  pope  from  1503  until  15 13. 
As  an  Italian  prince,  he  formed  alliances  with  the  Euro- 
pean powers,  and  waged  war  for  the  purpose  of  conquer- 
ing and  seizing  the  territory  of  his  neighbors.  Leo  X. 
(15 1 3-21)  began  the  construction  of  St.  Peter's  Church 
in  Rome,  and  in  order  to  secure  money  for  its  comple- 


14  Thk  Westminster  Assembly. 

tion,  sent  his  priests  abroad  to  sell  pardons  for  sin.  The 
blasphemies  of  one  of  the  auctioneers  aroused  Luther. 
The  monstrous  iniquities  of  the  papal  clergy,  the  grievous 
taxation  imposed  upon  the  people,  and  the  claim  of 
authority  to  sell  spiritual  privileges  in  heaven,  stirred 
the  nations  of  Europe  into  a  great  ecclesiastical  and  po- 
litical rebellion  against  the  Church  of  Rome. 

In  the  kingdom  of  England  in  1570,  Elizabeth  claims 
all  the  authority  previously  accorded  to  the  pope.  The 
Thirty-nine  Articles  are  chiefly  Lutheran  in  doctrine,  and 
they  avow  the  Calvinistic  view  of  predestination  and  the 
Lord's  supper.  Theological  students  carry  the  Prayer- 
book  under  one  arm  and  Calvin's  histitiites  under  the 
other.  Calvin  and  Cranmer  have  joined  hands  in  the 
organization  of  the  English  church  with  the  Episcopal 
form  of  government.  But  bishops  stand  on  the  same 
plane  of  dignity  with  presbyters.  Ministers  from  the 
continental  churches  with  presbyterial  ordination  are 
received  without  further  ceremonial  into  the  English 
churches.  English  bishops  pass  over  to  the  continent, 
and  sit  as  co-presbyters  with  the  Lutheran  and  Presby- 
terian ministers.  Harmony  seems  to  reign  among  the 
English  Protestants.  War  breaks  out,  however,  over 
the  vestments  worn  by  the  clergy. 

The  exiles  driven  forth  by  Queen  Mary  return  from 
the  continent  to  form  an  ecclesiastical  war-party  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  cities  on  the  Rhine,  where  they  found 
refuge,  English  churches  were  organized.  Fierce  debates 
resounded  in  these  congregations  over  the  forms  of  church 
government  and  the  forms  of  worship.  From  Strasburg 
and  Zurich  in  Elizabeth's  reign  a  party  returns  to  support 
the  Anglican  ritual.  From  Geneva  and  Basel  comes  a 
Presbyterian  band,  and  Frankfort  sends  a  flock  of  Inde- 
pendents (Congregationalists.)    The  church  war  opens  in 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  15 

England  when  these  eight  hundred  exiles  return  from  the 
Rhine  and  the  Alps.  Doctrine  and  government  in  Eliza- 
beth's established  church  give  complete  satisfaction.  But 
these  English  Protestants  have  seen  the  simplicit}^  in 
dress  and  ritual  that  marks  the  worship  of  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists.  They  have  been  nearer  to  Rome,  and  have 
seen  the  danger  from  the  papal  forms.  "Away,"  they 
cry,  ' '  away  with  the  square  cap,  and  the  lawn  sleeves, 
and  the  white  surplice,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross  in 
baptism. ' '  These  are  denounced  as  ' '  badges  of  poperj'," 
and  the  civil  magistrates  must  not  enforce  their  use. 
These  externals  merely  transform  ministers  into  papal 
priests.  Because  of  their  demand  for  greater  purity  and 
simplicity  in  the  matter  of  public  worship,  the  restored 
exiles  are  termed  Puritans.  They  continue  to  denounce 
the  Romish  priests  of  Mary's  reign,  who  still  officiate  in 
Elizabeth's  churches.  Behind  the  surplices  and  under  the 
caps  they  see  thousands  of  unworthy  and  ignorant  men, 
reading  to  the  people  the  services  of  the  Prayer-book. 

These  war  cries  are  spoken  in  an  age  devoted  to  for- 
mality and  display.  Elizabeth's  reign  is  filled  with 
pomps  and  royal  processions.  Every  inch  of  space  on 
the  queen's  state  dresses  is  adorned  with  jewels.  Her 
bespangled  robes  are  draped  over  vast  farthingales, 
spread  out  like  tables  on  which  her  arms  may  rest. 
' '  Her  appearance  when  thus  attired  has  been  compared 
to  that  of  an  oriental  idol."  The  extravagances  of  the 
rich  are  imitated  by  the  poor ;  women  whose  families  are 
suffering  for  bread  go  abroad  in  velvet  clothing.  Puri- 
tanism begins  to  demand  spirituality  in  the  chureh. 
"No  more  pomp  and  ceremonialism,"  they  cry.  Away 
with  the  vestments  and  the  bowing  of  the  knee  that  re- 
call the  degenerate  worship  of  the  papal  administration  ! 

In   1563  the  Council  of  Trent  completes  its  work  of 


i6  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

mild  reform,  and  the  papacy  establishes  itself  upon  a 
basis  of  austere  morality.  Seven  years  later,  with  the 
papal  curse  resting  upon  her,  Elizabeth  engages  in  conflict 
with  the  Jesuits  and  with  the  Puritans.  Both  of  these 
parties  are  persecuted.  In  defence  of  the  Calvinistic 
creed,  Thomas  Cartwright,  professor  of  divinity  at  Cam- 
bridge, sets  forth  the  view  that  the  management  of  church 
affairs  belongs  unto  the  church  through  her  selected  re- 
presentatives. He  declares  that  the  rule  of  bishops  is 
unlawful,  and  that  the  only  scriptural  form  of  ecclesias- 
tical government  is  the  Presbyterian.'  The  great  mass 
of  the  Puritans  follow  Cartwright's  leadership.  A  smaller 
band  adhere  to  the  Congregationalist  theory  of  Browne, 
publicly  advanced  in  1588.  Hooker  utters  a  call  for 
peace  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Polity^  but  Bancroft,  afterwards 
archbishop,  lays  the  foundation  of  the  theory  that  claims 
divine  right  for  the  Episcopal  form  of  government  and 
for  the  apostolic  succession  of  bishops.  Nevertheless  the 
Presbyterian  party  gains  prestige  by  upholding  the  queen 
in  her  conflict  with  Spain  and  Romanism.  The  English 
universities  become  hot-beds  of  Calvinism  ;  the  new  gen- 
eration of  clergymen  are  nearly  all  disciples  of  Geneva, 
and  often  ascend  the  pulpit  in  the  black  Geneva  gown. 
Even  the  higher  bishops  abstain  from  bowing  at  the  name 
of  Christ.  Stained  glass  disappears  from  the  window^s, 
and  the  communion-table  stands  in  the  centre  of  the 
church.  The  entire  ritual  is  approaching  a  Calvinistic 
simplicity  when  Elizabeth  dies  and  the  throne  is  claimed 
by  James  Stuart  of  Scotland. 

A  great  crisis  was  at  hand  in  national  affairs  when 
King  James  I.,  son  of  Mary  Stuart,  journeyed  southward 
to  London  in  1603.     James  was  awkward  and  ungainly 

^The  earliest  Presbyterian  church  in  England  was  established 
on  the  Thames  river,  near  London,  in  1572. 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  17 

in  person,  but  his  mind  was  more  full  of  sharp  angles 
than  his  body.  He  was  a  canny  Scot,  shrewd  at  striking 
bargains  and  making  compromises.  He  was  possessed 
of  a  quick  wit,  and  had  some  knowledge  of  theology. 
He  desired  to  pose  as  the  British  Solomon,  although 
Henry  IV.  of  France  termed  him  "the  wisest  fool  in 
Christendom."  He  was  deficient  in  common-sense,  and 
was  filled  with  self-conceit.  A  Calvinistic  training  super- 
added to  the  partial  French  nature  of  King  James  ren- 
dered him  a  bigot  in  religion  and  a  tyrant  in  politics. 
He  claimed  to  be  the  Lord's  anointed  vicegerent,  com- 
missioned to  re-establish  the  Davidic  theocracy  in  the 
British  realm.  He  claimed  divine  right  to  exercise  abso- 
lute personal  authority  in  his  kingdom.  His  experience 
with  presbyterial  courts  in  Scotland,  moreover,  had  in- 
spired in  the  king  an  intense  hatred  of  the  Presbyterian 
system. 

Eight  hundred  Puritan  ministers  met  the  king  with 
a  petition  for  certain  reforms  in  connection  with  ceremo- 
nies and  the  character  of  the  clergy.  They  raised  no 
objection  to  the  Episcopal  form  of  church  government. 
They  demanded  an  educated,  spiritual  ministry,  and  the 
abolition  of  the  square  cap,  white  surplice,  and  the  sign 
of  the  cross  in  the  ritual.  The  king  heard  these  com- 
plainants in  the  Hampton  Court  Conference.  ,  He  ac- 
cepted the  suggestion  of  Reynolds  and  ordered  a  new 
translation  of  the  Bible.  "No  bishop,  no  king"  was 
the  maxim  that  formed  the  basis  of  the  policy  of  James. 
His  bearing  was  full  of  arrogance.  When  a  Puritan 
minister  used  the  word  Presbytery,  James  flew  into  a 
passion :  "A  Scottish  Presbytery  agreeth  as  well  with  a 
monarchy  as  God  with  the  devil.  Now  Jack  and  Tom 
and  Will  and  Dick  shall  meet  and  at  their  pleasures 
censure  me  and  my  council    ...    let  that  alone."     At 


1 8  Th2  Westminstkr  Asskmely. 

a  moment  when  slight  concessions  from  the  king,  in  ac- 
cordance with  those  practically  made  already  by  some  of 
the  English  clergy,  would  have  preserved  the  unity  of 
his  kingdom,  this  haughty  assumption  of  absolute  au- 
thority by  James  brought  ruin.  "I  will  have  one  doc- 
trine," said  the  king,  "one  discipline,  one  religion  in 
substance  and  ceremon3^"  He  burst  out  in  rage  against 
the  Puritans,  and  shouted  :  "I  will  make  them  conform 
or  I  will  harrie  them  out  of  this  land,  or  else  worse." 

The  great  religious  and  political  conflict  was  opened. 
The  landed  gentry,  the  merchants,  and  the  professional 
men,  and  a  few  of  the  nobility  were  Puritans,  and  their 
stronghold  was  the  House  of  Commons.  They  possessed 
wealth  and  education.  They  were  filled  with  unyielding 
antagonism  toward  Romanism.  When  James  spoke  of 
Rome  as  the  "mother  church,"  when  he  sought  the 
hand  of  a  Spanish  princess  for  his  son  Charles,  when 
he  made  promises  of  indulgence  to  Romanists,  the  Puri- 
tans recalled  to  memory  the  Spanish  Armada  and  the 
Gunpowder  Plot.  Their  spirit  as  Englishmen  was 
aroused  when  they  beheld  toleration  granted  to  Roman- 
ists and  not  to  Puritans.  The  Commons  met  his  royal 
claims  at  every  point.  They  refused  to  vote  money 
for  the  expenses  of  his  administration.  The  King  out- 
raged national  sentiment  by  contracting  marriage  for 
Charles  with  the  Roman  Catholic  princess  of  France, 
Henrietta  Maria.  As  a  further  unwise  act,  he  ordered 
the  publication  of  the  Book  of  Sports,  enjoining  games 
and  other  festivities  after  service  on  the  Lord's  day. 

A  few  of  the  Puritans  fled  to  Holland  to  unite  with  the 
Separatists,  who  were  making  ready  to  sail  to  Massachu- 
setts in  the  ' '  Mayflower. ' '  Most  of  them  remained  to 
offer  battle  in  the  House  of  Commons  against  the  claim 
of  absolute  sovereignty  on  the  part  of  the  monarch,  who 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  19 

made  use  of  his  alleged  divine  prerogative  to  yield  the 
realm  of  England  to  Rome  and  to  Spain.  He  was  de- 
grading the  morals  of  the  people  ;  he  was  supporting  at 
his  court  profligate  favorites  like  Buckingham  ;  he  was 
increasing  papal  ceremonies  in  the  church,  and  he  was 
holding  friendly  conference  with  Spain,  the  champion  of 
Romanism,  when  death  came  to  claim  him,  in  1625. 

The  conflict  was  continued  between  Charles  I.  and 
Parliament  over  the  king's  income  and  the  governmental 
revenue.  Charles  claimed  authority  to  levy  and  col- 
lect taxes  ;  the  Commons  asserted  that  the  power  of  taxa- 
tion belonged  to  them  as  the  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

The  difierences  in  religion  became  greater.  The 
Huguenots  of  France  and  the  Protestants  of  Denmark 
were  going  down  before  the  power  of  Romanist  rulers. 
King  Charles  possessed  a  Romanist  wife,  and  supported 
Romanist  favorites  at  the  court.  Arminian  doctrine 
became  more  prevalent,  and  Montague,  Manwaring,  and 
others  of  this  creed,  likewise  defended  the  king's  au- 
thority and  denounced  the  claims  of  Parliament.  The 
Arminian  clergy  began  to  revive  ancient  ceremonial 
forms,  and  in  Durham  Cathedral  the  communion  table 
was  permanently  located  at  the  east  end  of  the  chancel. 

Calvinism  remained  dominant  in  the  Commons  and 
grew  in  strength  among  the  people.  The  subjects  of  King 
Charles  were  reading  with  keen  eagerness  the  version  of 
the  Bible  issued  in  161 1.  They  began  to  entertain  great 
reverence  for  the  literal  word  of  PIol)^  Scripture.  Some 
of  them  went  to  extremes  in  assuming  an  external  de- 
portment of  solemn  seriousness.  Some  upheld  a  Phari- 
saic observance  of  the  Sabbath  day  and  gave  Bible  names 
to  their  children.  But  under  occasional  excess  in  the 
strict  observance  of  the  letter  of  the  sacred  law  there  lay 


20  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

that  earnestness  of  character  that  constitutes  the  strength 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

The  claims  of  the  king  seemed  to  the  Puritans  in  the 
Commons  to  open  the  way  for  the  entrance  of  the  cere- 
monies and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  they 
girded  themselves  for  the  battle  against  the  royal  despot- 
ism. They  denied  that  Charles  was  the  supreme  ruler 
of  the  realm,  and  declared  that  they  alone  were  author- 
ized to  voice  the  sentiments  of  the  sovereign  people  of 
England. 

Charles  accepted  the  gage  of  battle.  He  sent  Eliot, 
leader  of  the  Commons,  to  die  in  the  Tower  of  London. 
He  used  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber,  composed  of  his  privy 
councillors  and  others,  as  the  instrument  of  personal 
tyranny.  The  king's  opponents  were  condemned  and 
punished  without  fair  trial.  The  j^ear  1633  saw  William 
Laud  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Laud  secured 
the  republication  of  the  Book  of  Sports,  and  labored  to 
make  Sunday  afternoon  a  time  of  revelr>\  He  attempted 
to  locate  all  communion  tables  in  the  eastern  end  of  the 
church.  He  was  a  martinet  in  matters  of  ritual.  He 
hroke  up  the  congregations  organized  after  the  continen- 
tal model.  The  scourge,  the  pillory,  and  the  prison  were 
ready  for  non-conformists.  To  the  Puritans  Laud  seemed 
to  be  leading  a  retrograde  movement  that  would  bring 
the  Church  of  England  again  under  the  power  of  the 
Pope.  He  advocated  the  doctrine  of  the  apostolic  suc- 
cession of  the  English  bishops.  He  upheld  the  divine 
prerogative  of  the  English  king.  He  erected  a  crucifix  in 
Lambeth  chapel.  The  communion  table  was  railed  off 
at  the  east  end  of  the  church  and  called  an  altar.  Laud's 
clergy  began  to  talk  of  the  invocation  of  saints.  The 
queen  celebrated  mass  in  the  royal  palace.  She  enter- 
tained  there   an   agent  of  the   Pope.       License  and  de- 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  21 

bauchery  ran  riot.  Indelicacy  and  indecency  ruled  at 
the  court.  Lax  morality  and  reckless  luxury  went  hand 
in  hand.  The  seat  of  government  was  the  centre  of  gor- 
geous ritual  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  under  the  direction 
of  Laud,  to  whom  the  Pope  was  offering  the  red  hat  of  a 
Romish  cardinal. 

The  spirihcal  life  of  England  was  at  stake.  If  the  pre- 
lates and  courtiers  were  not  leading  the  church  toward 
Rome,  then  they  were  assuredly  leading  the  people  into 
settled  debauch.  From  his  country  horrie  at  Horton, 
John  Milton  looked  forth  upon  that  spectacle  of  gilded 
license  to  declare,  in  the  poem  called  Comus,  that  the 
courtesies  of  the  court  were  ' '  glozing  lies ' '  ;  that  gor- 
geous apparel  might  cover  men  who  gloried  in  their 
shame ;  that  the  carnival  of  sensuality  was  due  to  the 
power  of  wine  and  sloth  that  had  come  from  France  and 
Italy.     The  creed  of  the  court,  said  Milton,  was  this  : 

"  'Tis  only  daylight  that  makes  sin." 

Honor  was  there  stigmatized  as  a  cheating  voice,  a  jug- 
gling art,  a  vain  idol.  The  breach  of  one  moral  law  was 
adduced  as  an  argument  for  the  violation  of  a  second. 
In  Milton's  poem  the  true  church  is  portrayed  as  a  vir- 
tuous woman  sitting  in  the  palace  paralyzed,  ' '  in  stony 
fetters,  fixt  and  motionless." 

Against  this  governmental  return  toward  the  debauch- 
ery of  the  papal  church  of  the  Middle  Age,  Calvinism,  in 
the  English  House  of  Commons,  resting  upon  the 
authority  of  the  individual  conscience,  stood  ready  to 
decide  the  issue  in  the  hall  of  debate  and  upon  the  field 
of  battle. 

The  war  in  behalf  of  purity  in  religion  began  in  Scot- 
land. Laud  prepared  a  new  Prayer-book  and  sent  it  to 
Edinburgh  for  the  use  of  the  churches.     On  July  23, 


22  Thk  Westminster  Assembly. 

1637,  the  priest  of  St.  Giles  Church  came  forth  in  white 
surplice  to  read  the  new  ritual.  Jennie  Geddes  flung 
her  stool  at  his  head,  and  a  riot  drove  the  minister  from 
the  chancel.  All  Scotland  arose  in  arms  against  Laud's 
innovations,  and  in  1638  the  National  Covenant  was 
signed,  binding  the  Scottish  people  to  labor  for  the  purity 
and  liberty  of  the  gospel.  In  the  same  year,  at  Glasgow, 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  deposed 
the  bishops  and  reestablished  the  Presbyterian  system. 
Two  brief  wars  with  Scotland  were  waged  by  King 
Charles,  but  the  lack  of  money  compelled  him  to  sum- 
mon the  representatives  of  the  people.  The  combatants 
stood  face  to  face  in  the  arena  of  debate.  The  issues  of 
religious  and  of  civil  liberty  were  at  length  to  be  decided 
in  a  conflict  between  Charles  Stuart  and  the  English 
Parliament. 

November  3,  1640,  the  Long  Parliament  came  together. 
That  Puritan  lion,  John  Pym,  was  the  leader  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  Pym  labored  in  behalf  of  personal  liberty 
for  the  people  upon  the  basis  of  the  declaration,  that  "the 
greatest  liberty  of  our  kingdom  is  religion. ' '  He  proposed 
the  impeachment  of  the  Earl  of  Strafford  for  threatening  to 
lead  an  Irish  Catholic  army  into  England.  Archbishop 
Laud  was  sent  to  the  Tower  and  Strafford  was  sent  to 
the  scaffold  upon  the  charge  of  treason.  The  tyranny  of 
Charles  I.  in  church  and  in  state  was  checked,  and  all  of 
his  despotic  powers  were  stripped  from  him.  The  Star 
Chamber  and  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  instruments 
of  his  absolutism,  were  aboHshed.  The  Commons  put 
the  question  of  rehgion  to  the  front.  They  passed  an 
ordinance  against  Laud's  ceremonies  and  the  Sunday 
oorts,  and  expelled  the  bishops  from  the  House  of 
Lords.  The  Grand  Remonstrance  was  then  enacted,  a 
restatement  of  all  past  grievances  against  the  king,  fol- 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  23 

lowed  by  a  demand  for  cabinet  ministers,  and  for  the 
reference  of  church  matters  to  an  Assembly  of  divines 
nominated  by  Parliament.  Charles  appealed  to  his  pedi- 
gree as  his  title  to  divine  authority,  and  flung  his  stand- 
ard to  the  breeze  on  August  22,  1642.  Unto  his  stand- 
ard flocked  that  party  in  the  Church  of  England  who 
believed  in  Laud's  ceremonials  and  in  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  bishops  and  archbishops.  The  House  of  Com- 
mons accepted  the  gage  of  battle,  and  the  war  began. 
The  political  issue  between  king  and  Parliament  as  to 
the  form  of  civil  government  was  to  be  fought  out  by 
religious  parties ;  Presbyterians  and  Independents  com- 
bined against  Episcopalians. 

Charles  and  Laud  denied  that  they  sought  to  reestablish 
the  papacy  in  England.  Their  statement  was  probably 
true.  Nevertheless,  they  were  laboring  in  the  interest 
of  a  type  of  religion  as  degenerate  as  that  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.  They  sought  to  make  the  English  monarch  a 
virtual  pope,  supported  by  a  hierarchy  of  English  church- 
men. This  Anglican  model  set  as  low  and  degrading  an 
example  in  spiritual  and  moral  matters  as  that  permitted 
by  Romanism.  The  tyrannical  policy  of  the  mediaeval 
popes  was  surpassed  by  Charles  and  Laud  when  they 
sought  to  force  their  system  upon  the  people  by  breaking 
down  representative  government  in  Parliament.  They 
attempted  to  destroy  the  right  to  worship,  the  right  to 
think,  and  the  right  of  self-government,  all  at  one  fell 
blow. 

The  Commons  sent  an  army  to  the  field  under  Essex, 
and  in  1643  summoned  the  Westminster  Assembly  to 
reconstruct  the  religious  system  of  the  kingdom..  The 
first  work  of  the  Assembly  was  the  attempt  to  revise  t^e 
Thirty-nine  Articles.  But  the  battles  of  1643  were  not 
favorable   to   the    parliamentary   forces.      Cromwell  was 


24  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

just  learning  the  art  of  war  in  cavalry  skirmishes,  and 
Rupert's  horsemen  were  holding  the  field  for  Charles. 
Pym  resolved  to  ask  aid  from  the  Scots.  Commissioners 
were  sent  to  Edinburgh,  and  the  treaty  was  signed, 
called  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  Five  days 
after  the  battle  of  Newbury,  September  25,  the  English 
Parliament  and  the  Assembly  stood  with  uplifted  hands 
in  St.  Margaret's  Church  in  London,  and  took  oath  to 
keep  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  Scotland  sent 
an  army  to  fight  against  the  king,  and  Parliament  pledged 
itself  virtually  to  establish  the  Presbyterian  system  in 
England.  The  Westminster  Assembly  at  once  began 
the  work  of  bringing  the  English  Established  Church 
intd  harmony  with  the  reformed  churches  on  the  con- 
tinent, and  more  particularly  into  sympathetic  touch 
with  the  church  in  Scotland.  The  English  Presby- 
terians constituted  the  majority  of  the  great  party  that 
was  laboring  in  behalf  of  constitutional  government. 
They  were  the  revolutionists  who  led  the  nation  in  the 
battle  against  the  absolute  monarchy  of  James  I.  and 
Charles  I.  Their  work  gave  England  the  mental  pre- 
paration for  the  overthrow  of  the  power  of  Charles  I.  in 
1649,  and  for  the  Revolution  of  1688.  Their  thinkers 
had  developed  an  EngL..xi  type  of  Calvinistic  theology, 
but  in  the  Assembly  they  were  ready  to  accept  the  views 
of  the  commissioners  from  Scotland  who  were  strict  con- 
structionists of  the  school  of  Geneva. 

The  national  traditions  and  modes  of  thought  of  the 
English  people  committed  them  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
laity  over  the  local  clergy  in  matters  of  religion.  Very 
few  of  the  English  Puritan  leaders  accepted  the  Scottish 
view  of  Presbyterianism  as  a  divine  institution.  The 
English  followers  of  the  religious  party  organized  by  Cart- 
wright  looked  upon  the  Presbyterian  system  as  an  eccle- 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  25 

siastical  form  of  parliamentary  government.  The  As- 
sembly of  divines  was  called  to  work  under  the  control 
of  the  two  Houses,  and  the  clergy  in  the  parishes  were 
to  be  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  lay  elders.  The 
Presbyterian  system  commended  itself  to  many  in  Eng- 
land because  it  rested  for  ecclesiastical  authority  not 
upon  the  king,  but  upon  the  nation  itself  through  its 
organization  by  means  of  elective  representatives.  This 
representative  system  could  still  further  be  controlled  in 
accordance  with  the  sentiments  of  the  mass  of  the  people, 
by  holding  the  ecclesiastical  courts  themselves  in  sub- 
jection to  the  great  body  of  civil  representatives,  the 
House  of  Commons. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  the  Stuart  dynasty 
the  Presbyterian  party  was  dominant  in  the  House  of 
Commons;  but  in  1641  that  House  supported  the  Root 
and  Branch  bill  for  the  abolition  of  episcopacy  and  for  the 
transference  of  the  authority  of  the  bishops  to  commit- 
tees of  laymen  in  each  diocese.  During  the  sessions  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly  the  Presbyterians  in  the  Com- 
mons held  to  the  theory  that  all  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
must  be  based  upon  the  authority  of  a  civil,  constitutional 
government.  The  real  aim  of  th-  English  Presbyterian 
party  in  the  Commons  was  to  icnder  both  church  and 
king  responsible  to  Parliament.  In  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly little  debate  took  place  in  connection  with  the  for- 
mulation of  doctrinal  propositions.  i\ll  Puritans  alike 
were  opposed  to  every  form  of  Romish  belief;  therefore 
the  leaven  of  Scottish  faith  was  mingled  with  English 
Presbyterian  theology,  and  the  finished  work,  the  Con- 
fession and  Catechisms,  have  come  down  as  the  most 
efficient  creed  whereby  a  militant  Calvinism  may  enter 
into  battle  in  behalf  of  civil  liberty. 

With  reference  to  the  method  and  forms  of  ecclesiasti- 


26  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

cal  jurisdiction,  the  English  Presbyterians,  at  least  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  were  less  revolutionary  than  in  the 
matter  of  doctrine.  They  manifested  a  spirit  strongly 
conservative  in  the  sphere  of  church  government.  In 
the  Westminster  Assembly  three  parties  confronted  one 
another.  The  Presbyterians  were  supported  by  the  six 
Scotch  commissioners,  Alexander  Henderson,  George 
Gillespie,  Samuel  Rutherford  and  Robert  Baillie,  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  and  the  laymen.  Lord  Maitland  and 
Archibald  Johnston.  The  Independents  were  repre- 
sented in  the  Assembly  by  five  ministers,  Thomas  Good- 
win, Philip  Nye,  Jeremiah  Burroughs,  William  Bridge, 
and  Sidrach  Simpson.  These  ministers  had  lived  in  exile  in 
Holland  during  the  days  of  Laud's  supremacy,  and  re- 
turned to  take  part  in  the  parliamentary  reformation.  A 
third  party,  called  Erastians,  was  composed  of  two  divines, 
Thomas  Coleman  and  John  Lightfoot,  and  of  many  law- 
yers who  sat  in  the  Assembly.  Throughout  the  year  1644 
the  Independents  held  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  in  fierce 
debate  over  ecclesiastical  ordination  and  discipline.  They 
upheld  the  extreme  democratic  view  that  each  separate 
congregation  of  believers  possesses  final  ecclesiastical 
authorit)^  in  opposition  to  the  Presbyterian  system  of 
successive  courts,  presbyteries,  synods  and  assemblies, 
with  jurisdiction  granted  to  each  higher  court  over  the 
lower  body.  The  Presbyterians  outvoted  the  Indepen- 
dents in  the  Assembly  ;  but  during  this  same  year  Crom- 
well's  army  of  Independents  was  winning  the  victory  of 
Marston  Moor,  and  prestige  was  thereby  added  to  the 
five  Congregationalist  brethren.  During  a  portion  of  the 
years  1 645-' 46  the  Assembly  resounded  with  the  fur}'  of 
the  Erastian  controversy.  This  party  advocated  the  view 
that  the  English  Parliament  is  one  with  the  English 
church,  in  full  accordance  with  the  ancient  Jewish  theo- 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  27 

cracy.  Selden's  argument  against  the  exercise  of  discip- 
line by  church  courts  was  rendered  ineffective  b}^  Gilles- 
pie's knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  Assembly  estab- 
lished itself  in  favor  of  the  principle  that  there  is  biblical 
authority  for  a  government  exercised  by  church  officers 
distinct  from  that  of  the  civil  magistrate. 

As  conservatives  the  Presbyterians  wrought  out  their 
views  in  the  Assembly.  As  conservatives  they  sought 
to  deal  with  the  king.  But  Cromwell's  Independents 
won  the  battle  in  the  field  of  war  against  Charles  I., 
and  they  brought  the  monarch  before  the  judicial  tribu- 
nal. The  Presbyterians  were  ready  to  accept  the  pro- 
mise of  King  Charles  that  he  would  establish  their  eccle- 
siastical system  under  his  monarchy.  The  Indepen- 
dents made  full  adoption  of  Presbyterian  principles  con- 
cerning representative  government  as  opposed  to  mon- 
archy. They  expelled  the  Presbyterians  from  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  sent  the  king  to  the  block.  The 
Presbyterian  system  of  ecclesiastical  government  was 
never  widely  extended  among  the  English  churches ;  it 
had  to  seek  acceptance  in  other  lands.  Nevertheless,  its 
great  revolutionary  work  in  England  was  completed. 
Romanism  had  found  a  grave  in  English  soil.  The  old 
principle  of  monarchical  absolutism  in  the  church  and  in 
the  state  was  no  more.  Forty  years  later,  when  the 
English  people  saw  that  the  rod  of  the  papacy  was  indeed 
broken,  and  that  the  necessity  no  longer  existed  of  join- 
ing the  church  to  the  state  in  order  that  the  latter  might 
preserve  the  existence  of  Protestantism,  then  were  they 
ready  to  adopt,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  principle  of  reli- 
gious toleration  for  all  creeds. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  hear  the  words  of  Samuel  R. 
Gardiner,  the  highest  authority  on  the  period  of  the 
Puritan  revolution,  with  reference  to  the  movement  of 


28  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

1 640- ' 49  :  "The  Presbyterians  had  done  their  work. 
They  had  overthrown  the  monarchy,  never,  in  the  sense 
in  which  Charles  understood  the  word,  to  rise  again  in 
England."  He  says  further:  "The  restored  kingship 
of  Charles  II.  was  fettered  by  Parliament  in  a  way  which 
would  have  been  unendurable  by  Charles  I. ;  and  if, 
ecclesiastically,  the  church  of  Sheldon  and  Morley  ap- 
peared in  very  truth  the  church  of  Hooker  and  Laud, 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  its  historical  continuity  is  to  be 
detected  in  what,  in  1646,  was  known  at  Westminster  as 
the  Reformed  Church  of  England.  When  bishops  ulti- 
mately ascended  their  ancient  thrones,  they  sat  on  them 
because  they  were  favored  by  Parliament  rather  than  be- 
cause they  were  favored  by  the  king.  The  supremacy  of 
lay  England  in  its  collective  capacity  over  king  and 
church  was,  in  reality,  the  main  object  for  which  the 
Presbyterians  were  contending,  and  their  object  and  not 
Charles'  object,  was  obtained  with  the  full  co-operation 
of  the  party  of  the  Cavaliers,  when  king  and  bishops  re- 
appeared in  1660  under  changed  conditions." 

Fathers  and  brethren  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States,  I  greet  you  as 
among  the  most  consistent  heirs  and  defenders  of  the 
faith  handed  down  by  the  Westminster  Assembly.  That 
Assembly  of  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen  girded  on  its 
armor  and  led  Calvinism  to  victory  against  the  hier- 
archical system  that  derived  its  origin  from  Romanism. 
Never  again  can  the  scarlet  woman,  nor  the  divine  right 
of  kings  and  bishops  hold  their  former  sway.  But  the 
Westminster  Assembly  itself  did  not,  and  perhaps  could 
not,  adopt  the  principle  of  complete  religious  liberty. 
The  Scottish  settlers  in  the  province  of  Ulster,  Ireland, 
bore  the  seeds  of  that  principle  to  our  own  Appalachian 
ridges  and  foothills.     The  open  Bible,  the  Westminster 


Condition  of  Britain,  etc.  29 

Confession,  and  the  Shorter  Catechism  taught  them  the 
principle  of  resistance  to  kings,  and  they  formed  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  the  revolutionary  party  that  wrought 
out  the  independence  of  the  American  colonies.  Pres- 
byterian principles  led  to  the  glorious  action  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina,  in  the  year 
1775.  The  Hanover  Presbytery  played  a  large  part 
in  securing  the  insertion  of  the  principle  of  religious  lib- 
erty in  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  in  1776.  In  1785  the 
same  Presbytery  forced  through  the  Virginia  Assembly 
Jefferson's  bill  for  the  establishment  of  religious  freedom, 
and  thus,  for  the  first  time  in  all  history,  secured  the 
complete  divorce  of  the  church  from  the  state.  In  the 
year  1861  our  own  Southern  Assembly  committed  us  to 
the  principle  that  the  sole  function  of  the  church  is  the 
adjudication  of  spiritual  affairs.  May  we  keep  our  Zion 
pure  and  holy.  May  her  officers  be  always  men  of  spot- 
less life  and  uprightness  in  heart.  May  our  blue  banner 
continue  to  be  the  standard  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom, 
and  beneath  its  folds  may  righteousness  and  truth  hold 
undisputed  sovereignty. 


REV.  ROBERT   PRICE.   D.    D. 


II. 

THE  RELIGIOUS  SITUATION  OF  BRITAIN  AT 
THE  TIME  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  WEST- 
MINSTER ASSEMBLY,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFER- 
ENCE TO  THOSE  ASPECTS  OF  THE  TIMES 
THAT  («),  PREPARED  THE  WAY  FOR  THE 
CALLING  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY;  AND  (d),  EX- 
ERTED AN  INFLUENCE  ON  IT  WHEN  CALLED. 

BY 

Rev.  ROBERT  PRICE,  D.  D., 

PROFESSOR    IN    THE    SOUTHWESTERN    PRESBYTERIAN    UNIVERSITY, 
CLARKSVILLE,   TENNESSEE. 


31 


ANALYSIS. 

Two  lines  of  influence  led  to  the  Assembly — one  was  English, 
the  other  was  Scotch. — Relation  of  Henry  VIII.  to  the  Reforma- 
tion in  England. — Episcopal  polity  and  many  Romish  practices 
retained. — Earnest  spirits  opposed  Henry's  plans. — Edward  VI. 
favorable  to  the  Reformation. — Mary  reversed  the  policy  of  Ed- 
ward.— Elizabeth  returned  to  the  position  of  Henry. — Her  sym- 
pathy with  Rome.— Reasons  for  her  Protestantism. — The  origin 
of  Puritanism. — The  Marian  exiles. — Presbyterian  polity  fa- 
vored.— Thomas  Cartwright. — Green  criticised.— Hooker  alluded 
to. — The  first  Presbytery. — Presbyterianism  prior  to  the  Assem- 
bly.— The  National  Church. — The  Brownists. — Elizabeth  and 
the  early  Presbyterians. — Hooker  and  the  debate  between  Pres- 
byterianism and  Episcopacy. — The  principles  of  the  Westminster 
Standards  taking  shape. — But  within  the  National  Church. — • 
James  I.,  though  reared  in  Scotland,  not  in  sympathy  with  Pres- 
byterianism.— The  Reformation  in  Scotland. — Unlike  that  in 
England. — A  conviction  of  the  people. — Patrick  Hamilton. — 
His  martyrdom. — Protestantism  strong. — Romanism  abolished. 
— John  Knox. — First  Scottish  Assembly. — Church  organized  as 
Presbyterian. — Here  also  the  principles  of  the  Westminster 
Standards  appear. — Monarchy  and  Presbyterianism. — Church 
establishment. — Presbyterianism  opposed  to  Prelacy  and  Popery. 
— Andrew  Melville. — General  Assembly  and  the  bishops. — Long 
and  bitter  conflict  with  Prelacy. — Prelatic  control  for  a  time. — 
James  opposed  Presbyterianism. — Persecution  and  exile. — Sore 
evils.— Charles  I.  followed  same  fatal  policy. — His  duplicity. — 
Wentworth  and  Laud. — The  High  Commission  Court. — The 
Star  Chamber  Court. — Many  persecuted. — Uniformity  forced. — 
Solemn  league  and  covenant. — Long  parliament. — The  king 
and  parliament  in  conflict. — The  proposal  to  call  an  Assembly. — 
Called  in  1643  to  settle  religion  in  the  realm. 


32 


II. 

THE  RELIGIOUS  SITUATION  OF  BRITAIN  AT  THE 
TIME  OF  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER 
ASSEMBLY. 


THE  religious  state  of  Britain  which  rendered  the 
calling  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  necessary 
and  possible,  and  which  determined  its  character  when 
called,  was  the  result  of  two  distinct  lines  of  influence, 
the  one  English  and  the  other  Scotch.  These  moved 
separately,  in  the  main,  until  James  the  Sixth  of  Scot- 
land ascended  the  English  throne,  as  James  the  First, 
in  1603,  when  they  became  united  in  the  production  of 
a  common  result.  To  obtain  a  clear  conception  of  the 
religious  state  of  Britain  at  the  time  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  it  will  be  necessary  rapidly  to  trace  the  course 
of  these  two  lines  of  influence  from  their  origin  until  the 
period  upon  which  our  interest  is  concentrated  in  these 
exercises. 

All  the  churches  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Church  of  England,  were  Augusti- 
nian  in  their  theology,  and  antiprelatical  in  their  polity. 
Luther's  views  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
decrees,  and  the  relation  of  sovereign  grace  to  the  free 
will  of  man,  were  the  same  as  those  of  Calvin.  This 
was  true  also  of  Melanchthon  at  the  beginning  of  his 
career  as  a  reformer,  though  he  afterwards  modified  his 
views  somewhat.  And,  when  the  English  Reformation 
had  so  far  advanced  that  its  evangelical  leaders  were  at 
3  33 


34  The  We'stminster  Assembly. 

liberty  to  express  their  real  sentiments,  they  incorporated 
the  Calvinistic  doctrines  in  their  Thirty-nine  Articles, 
where  they  are  still  to  be  found.  No  other  doctrinal 
sentiments  were  entertained  in  the  Church  of  England 
until  the  rise  of  Arminian  views  in  the  time  of  Archbishop 
Laud.  When  the  Synod  of  Dort  met  in  Holland  in  1618 
and  condemned  the  views  of  Arrainius,  representatives 
from  the  Church  of  England,  appointed  by  James  I.,  sat 
and  voted  with  it. 

One  of  the  essential  features  of  the  Reformation  was 
an  uprising  against  the  Romish  hierarchy.  Conse- 
quently, the  office  of  the  diocesan  bishop  was  abolished, 
and  the  parity  of  the  clergy  recognized,  in  both  the 
Calvinistic  and  Lutheran  Churches,  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  The  fundamental  principles  of  Presbyterianism, 
such  as  the  parity  of  the  ministry,  the  cooperation  of  the 
laity  in  church  government,  and  the  authoritative  action 
of  synods,  are  held  by  the  Lutheran  body  to  this  da3^ 
The  Lutheran  Church  of  Sweden  retains  the  title  of 
bishop,  but  like  the  Episcopate  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
the  office  is  not  that  which  claims  to  be  derived  from  the 
apostolical  succession.  In  some  of  the  German  states, 
in  Holland,  in  France,  and  in  Scotland,  the  Presbyterian 
system  in  its  entirety  was  adopted.  But  the  Church  of 
England  derived  its  existence  from  a  source  in  which 
evangelical  truth  and  order  could  not  be  expected  to 
originate.  The  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England, 
in  its  separation  from  the  papacy,  was  a  purely  political 
movement,  or  rather  a  movement  prompted  by  the  selfish 
purpose  of  a  cruel  and  unprincipled  tyrant.  After  living 
in  wedlock  with  Catherine  of  Arragon  for  twenty  years 
Henry  VIII.  wearied  of  her;  possibly,  as  he  claimed, 
his  conscience  may  have  troubled  him  about  the  legiti- 
macy of  his  union  with  his  brother's  widow.     For  these 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  35 

reasons,  and  the  hope  of  securing  a  male  heir  to  his 
throne,  together  with  his  passion  for  Anne  Bullen,  he 
determined  to  put  Catherine  away.  His  efforts  to  obtain 
a  divorce  were  foiled  by  the  obstinacy  or  the  weakness 
of  the  pope,  and  he  resolved  to  accomplish  his  purpose 
by  renouncing  the  authority  of  the  pope  and  usurping 
the  headship  of  the  Church  of  England  himself. 

There  were  secret  sympathizers  with  the  Protestant 
doctrines  in  England  at  that  time,  such  as  Cranmer, 
Latimer  and  Thomas  Cromwell,  but  there  is  not  the 
slightest  evidence  that  they  had  any  part  in  prompting 
the  movement,  or  seriously  affecting  its  character  while 
Henry  lived.  The  only  change  made  in  the  church  was 
in  its  relation  to  the  papacy  by  substituting  the  king's 
authority  for  that  of  the  Pope.  The  old  system  of  eccle- 
siastical polity,  with  its  elaborate  hierarchy  of  arch- 
bishops, bishops  and  cathedral  clergy,  was  retained. 
Its  doctrinal  system  was  fixed  by  the  publication  of  the 
Six  Articles,  in  which  the  distinguishing  tenets  of 
Romanism  were  re-enacted,  as  transubstantiation ,  com- 
munion in  one  kind,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  the  bind- 
ing obligation  of  monastic  vows,  private  masses,  and 
auricular  confession.  The  reception  of  these  doctrines 
was  enforced  by  the  severest  penalties,  and  those  who 
denied  them  were  liable  to  be  burned  at  the  stake.  As 
an  illustration  of  the  impartiality  of  Henry's  despotism, 
on  the  28th  of  July,  1540,  Thomas  Cromwell,  one  of  the 
great  pillars  of  the  Reformation,  was  beheaded  on  a 
trumped-up  charge  of  treason,  and  two  days  afterwards 
three  Protestant  clergymen  were  burned  for  heresy,  and 
at  the  same  time  and  place  four  Roman  Catholics  were 
beheaded  for  denying  the  king's  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
and  adhering  to  the  bishop  of  Rome.  It  may  well  be 
supposed  that  a  church  originating  in  such  circumstances. 


36  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

organized  under  such  a  head,  and  imposed  upon  the  peo- 
ple by  such  tyranny,  would  necessarily  possess  some 
features  which  would  arouse  the  opposition  of  the  purest 
and  most  intelligent  of  the  English  people.  And,  in- 
deed, this  was  the  cause  that  led  to  the  long  and  bitter 
controversies  by  which  the  church  was  agitated,  to  the 
cruel  persecutions  which  the  established  church  waged 
for  more  than  one  hundred  years  against  dissenters,  and 
to  that  religious  revolution  of  which  the  Westminster 
Assembly  was  the  culmination  and  its  creed  the  symbol. 
And  yet,  while  the  iron  hand  of  Henry  VIII.  moulded 
the  external  form  of  the  Church  of  England  according  to 
his  will,  there  was  an  element  of  Presbyterianism  in  the 
creed  of  the  real  reformers  which  they  dared  not  utter. 
It  came  to  light  afterwards,  when  it  became  safe  to  speak 
their  minds,  that  the  great  leaders,  such  as  Cranmer, 
Hooper,  and  others,  did  not  regard  Episcopacy  as  a.  jure 
divino,  but  rather  as  ^Jiire  Jmniano  institution,  best  suited 
to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  Reformation  be- 
gan, and,  indeed,  the  only  form  which  could  be  had 
while  Henry  reigned.  It  was  equally  impossible  to  set 
aside  the  episcopal  system  during  the  reign  of  his  son, 
Edward  VI.  For  a  while  genuine  Protestantism,  re- 
leased from  Henry's  bigotry  and  intolerance,  made 
rapid  progress,  yet  the  people  had  no  voice  in  ecclesias- 
tical affairs  ;  in  fact,  the  great  majority  of  the  people  and 
of  the  parochial  clergy  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  the  whole  matter  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
civil  rulers,  Cranmer  and  his  associates  were  timidly 
conservative,  and  the  case  of  Hooper,  who  was  impris- 
oned for  refusing  to  be  consecrated  with  the  insignia 
brought  over  from  Romanism,  clearly  showed  that  no 
radical  changes  in  the  ecclesiastical  system  would  be 
tolerated.     The  outward  progress  and  open  avowal  of 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  37 

the  reformed  doctrines  was  checked  by  the  accession  of 
Mary.     The  ease  with  which  she  reversed  the  ecclesias- 
tical policy  of  the  government,  and  took  the  church  back 
to  Rome,  shows  how  Httle  hold  Protestant  doctrines  had 
taken  on  the  people.     As   Henry  had  found  but   little 
difl&culty  in  bringing  the   Parliament  to  vote  for  with- 
drawal from  the  Pope,  so  Mary  found  as  Httle  difficulty 
in  inducing  it  to  vote  for  a  return.     The   only  demand 
which  it  firmly  refused  was  to  surrender  the  property  of 
the  monasteries  which  Henry  had  confiscated  and  con- 
ferred on   members  of  the   House  of   Lords.     A  great 
many  Protestants  were   burned  at   the    stake;    but  the 
effect  of  this  was  to  spread  and  intensify  the  popular 
aversion  to  a  church  so  cruel.     The  celebrated  saying  of 
Tertullian  that  ' '  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of 
the  church,"  was  found  to  be  true,  and  Protestantism 
was  strengthened  and  purified  by  the  efforts  to  extermi- 
nate it.     Many  fled  to  the  continent,  and  there  came  in 
contact  with  the    Presbyterian  form  of  church  govern- 
ment, and  on  the  death  of  Mary  returned  to   England 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  freedom    and   scriptural   truth 
which  they  had  there  imbibed. 

Elizabeth's  policy  was  similar  to  that  of  her  father, 
Henry  VIII.  There  was  some  reason  to  believe  that 
she  was  a  Catholic  at  heart,  and  would  have  been  will- 
ing to  return  to  the  Roman  allegiance  if  the  thing  had 
been  practicable.  But,  as  the  Pope  excommunicated  her 
and  denied  her  legitimacy,  her  occupancy  of  the  throne 
depended  upon  the  support  of  her  Protestant  subjects. 
She  was,  therefore,  compelled  to  be  a  Protestant  in  self- 
defence.  As  it  was,  she  devoted  herself  to  the  main- 
tenance of  the  national  church  as  then  constituted,  and 
to  the  repression  of  anything  hke  dissent,  or  any  form 
of  religious  liberty.     Puritanism  as  a  party,  and  active 


38  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

power,  made  its  appearance  during  her  reign,  and  was 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  return  from  the  continent  of 
the  Marian  exiles.  The  Puritans  took  exception  to  the 
vestments  worn  by  the  clergy,  especially  bishops,  as 
being  relics  of  the  papacy  and  significant  of  erroneous 
doctrines,  as  well  as  to  what  they  regarded  superstitious 
forms  and  ceremonies.  They  were  generally,  though 
not  all,  in  favor  of  the  Presbyterian  form  of  church  gov- 
ernment. It  is  not  an  uncommon  opinion  that  the  early 
Puritans  were,  most  of  them,  Independents  or  Congrega- 
tionalists.  This  was  not  true  ;  the  larger  number  were 
Presbyterians  in  sentiment.  They  did  not  propose, 
however,  to  secede  from  the  national  church.  Many  of 
them  held  pastoral  charges,  some  were  bishops.  They 
hoped,  rather,  by  fair  and  open  discussion  to  propagate 
their  views,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  modification  of 
the  government  of  the  church,  by  the  introduction  of 
the  office  of  ruling  elder  and  the  establishment  of  presby- 
teries and  synods.  During  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
Thomas  Cartwright,  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  than  whom  no  man  of  his  day 
bore  a  higher  reputation  for  profound  scholarship,  pulpit 
eloquence,  acuteness,  judgment,  and  piety,  introduced 
into  his  lectures  at  the  university  the  discussion  of  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  He 
maintained  the  following  positions  : 

1 .  That  there  were  but  two  divinely-constituted  offices 
in  the  church,  namely,  those  of  bishops  or  elders,  and 
deacons,  and  that  all  others,  archbishops,  diocesan 
bishops,  archdeacons,  et  cetera^  ought  to  be  abolished. 

2.  That  every  church  ought  to  be  governed  by  its  own 
ministers  and  elders. 

3.  That  every  minister  should  have  the  charge  of  a 
particular  congregation. 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  39 

4.   That  ministers  should  be  openly  and  fairly  chosen 
by  the  people. 

In  addition  to  these  doctrines  he  held  others  which 
were  in  opposition  to  the  practices  and  institutions  of  the 
Established  Church,  but  which  were  in  harmony  with  the 
Presbyterian  system.  Cartwright  was  deprived  of  his 
professorship,  and  expelled  from  the  university  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  So  great  was  the  persecution 
waged  against  him,  that  he  was  forced  to  leave  England 
and  take  refuge  on  the  continent.  Cartwright  has  not 
received  the  honor,  in  the  history  of  Presbyterianism, 
which  is  his  due.  His  fame  has  been  eclipsed  by  that  of 
Calvin  and  Knox,  but  his  system  was  as  pure,  and  his 
sacrifices  for  the  truth  as  great,  as  theirs,  though,  unlike 
them,  he  suffered  defeat.  Green,  in  his  History  of  the 
English  People,  now  so  widely  read,  and  so  deservedly 
admired,  though  he  is  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the 
political  principles  of  the  Puritans,  denounces  Cartwright 
with  partisan  bitterness,  because  in  the  first  place,  he 
held  that  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government  was 
taught  in  the  Scriptures ;  secondly,  that  all  spiritual 
power  and  jurisdiction,  the  decreeing  of  doctrine  and  the 
ordering  of  ceremonies,  lay  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the 
church,  which  Green  calls  placing  the  state  beneath  the 
feet  of  the  church  ;  and  thirdly,  because  Cartwright  did 
not  rise  to  the  full  conception  of  religious  toleration,  as 
if  that  was  peculiar  to  him.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that 
the  true  principles  of  toleration  were  not  understood  in 
that  age  even  by  the  best  and  wisest  of  men.  At  this 
very  time,  the  Established  Church,  in  league  with  the 
state,  was  hounding  this  godly  and  learned  man  to  im- 
prisonment and  exile.  The  same  author  praises  Hooker, 
the  leading  writer  against  Presbyterianism,  because  he 
abandoned  the  ' '  narrow  ground  ' '  of  scriptural  argument 


40  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

to  base  his  conclusions  on  the  general  principles  of 
' '  moral  and  political  science, ' '  on  the  ' '  eternal  obliga- 
tions of  natural  law. ' ' 

In  1572  many  of  the  Puritan  clergy,  with  a  number  of 
laymen  of  prominence,  formed  themselves  into  a  presby- 
tery at  Wandsworth,  a  place  not  far  removed  from  the 
city  of  London.  This  was  the  first  presbytery  ever 
organized  in  England.  A  large  portion  of  the  London 
clergy  soon  attached  themselves  to  it,  and  other  presby- 
teries were  established  in  neighboring  counties.  Thus 
nearly  a  hundred  years  before  the  meeting  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly  Presbyterianism  was  planted  in  Eng- 
land in  an  organized  form.  And  yet,  this  movement 
was  not  an  attempt  to  set  up  a  Presbyterian  church 
separate  from  the  national  establishment.  It  was  rather 
a  private  association  of  clergymen  and  laymen  for  carry- 
ing into  effect  the  Presbyterian  discipline  for  the  benefit 
of  themselves  and  their  congregations,  without  seceding 
from  the  church.  And  though,  a  few  years  later,  an 
effort  was  made  to  organize  the  several  presbyteries  into 
synods,  it  was  not  proposed  to  throw  off  the  authority  of 
the  bishops.  The  idea  of  leaving  the  national  church 
would  have  been  regarded  by  these  reformers  as  schis- 
matic, and  would  have  been  abhorrent  to  their  principles. 
The  first  separatists  were  the  Brownists  or  Independents, 
who  had  no  affiliation  with  the  Presbyterians.  It  is  said 
that  this  scheme  of  Presbyterian  church  government  was 
signed  by  as  many  as  five  hundred  ministers,  amongst 
the  ablest  and  best  in  the  realm ;  so  early  and  so  rapidly 
had  these  principles  taken  root  and  spread.  It  is  not 
improbable,  to  say  the  least,  that  if  the  truth  had  been 
allowed  a  fair  field  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Church 
of  England  would  have  been  very  different  from  what  it 
was.      But  this  and  all  such  movements  were  put  down 


Thk  Rkligious  Situation  of  Britain.  41 

by  Elizabeth's  government  with  cruel  violence,  and 
came  to  naught,  except  as  they  strengthened  and  per- 
petviated  the  great  principles  involved,  until  an  oppor- 
tunity arose  for  reasserting  and  establishing  them,  as 
was  done  finally  in  the  Westminster  Assembly. 

The  most  celebrated  work  written  on  the  Episcopal 
side  during  the  controversy  waged  in  Elizabeth's  reign 
as  to  the  claims  of  the  two  rival  systems  of  church  gov- 
ernment was  that  of  Richard  Hooker,  entitled  ' '  Ecclesi- 
astical Polity."  Mr.  Cartwright  and  those  who  held 
with  him  took  the  ground  that  the  form  of  church  gov- 
ernment adopted  by  the  apostles  at  the  founding  of  the 
Christian  Church  was  the  Presbyterian,  in  which  the 
only  two  orders  of  church  officers  were  presbyters  and 
deacons,  and  that  this  form,  being  of  divine  origin, 
should  be  retained  by  the  church  in  all  ages  and  all 
countries.  Hooker  replied,  in  substance,  that  even  if  it 
were  true  that  the  polity  of  the  Apostolic  Church  was 
Presbyterian,  it  did  not  follow  that  that  form  should 
necessarily  prevail  universally  and  permanently.  "  The 
Holy  Scriptures,"  he  said,  "are  a  perfect  standard  of 
doctrine,  but  not  a  rule  of  discipline  and  government; 
nor  is  the  practice  of  the  apostles  an  invariable  rule  or 
law  to  the  church  in  succeeding  ages,  because  they  acted 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  church  in  its  infant 
and  persecuted  state."  Making  the  admitted  distinction 
between  natural  and  positive  law,  he  claimed  that  the 
laws  relating  to  the  government  of  the  church,  being  of 
the  nature  of  positive  laws,  are  not  immutable,  but  may 
be  changed  with  changing  circumstances.  One  funda- 
mental error  in  this  reasoning  is  the  assumption  that  all 
positive  laws,  even  those  enacted  by  divine  command, 
can  be  altered  by  human  authority,  whereas  they  can  be 
altered  only  by  the  lawgiver  himself,  as  was  done  in 


42  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  case  of  the  positive  laws  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 
It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  the  ground  npon 
which  Episcopacy  is  now  defended  is  very  different  from 
that  on  which  Hooker  defended  it.  Its  advocates  now 
claim  that  it  is  of  divine  authority,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  changed,  a  claim  not  made  by  Hooker.  On  the  whole, 
it  is  evident  that  the  principles  afterw^ards  embodied  in 
the  Westminster  system  were  widely  disseminated,  and 
took  deep  root  in  the  English  mind  during  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  notwithstanding  the  bitter  persecution  waged 
against  their  adherents. 

Elizabeth's  successor,  James  I.,  had  been  brought  up 
in  the  communion  of  the  Scottish  kirk,  and  those  who 
were  not  acquainted  with  his  character  and  past  history 
might  have  hoped  that  on  coming  to  the  English  throne 
he  would  throw  his  influence  in  favor  of  Presbyterianism, 
at  least  so  far  as  to  procure  toleration  for  those  who  held 
to  its  principles  ;  but  if  they  did  indulge  those  hopes 
they  were  destined  to  be  grievously  disappointed.  « 

The  history  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  was  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in 
England.  In  the  latter  it  originated  in  the  caprice  of  an 
unprincipled  despot ;  in  the  former  the  movement  began 
with  the  people  as  the  result  of  personal  conviction. 
The  doctrines  of  the  Protestant  reformers  probably  found 
their  way  into  Scotland  through  the  secret  circulation  of 
the  writings  of  Luther  and  others.  The  first,  so  far  as  is 
known,  who  openly  and  systematically  preached  them 
was  Patrick  Hamilton,  a  young  man  of  royal  lineage, 
great  talents  and  burning  zeal.  In  1526  he  went  to  the 
continent  and  studied  under  Luther  and  Melanchthon. 
On  his  return  he  devoted  himself  to  the  preaching  of  the 
truth.  He  was  arrested  and  burned  at  the  stake.  The 
martyrdom  of  one  so  young,  so  high-born,  and  so  accom- 


I 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  43 

plished,  helped  to  attract  attention  to  the  doctrines  for 
which  he  suffered.  They  spread  with  considerable 
rapidity  in  the  next  ten  years,  notwithstanding  the  bitter 
persecution  which  was  waged,  in  which  many  perished 
at  the  stake.  In  1546  the  party  had  become  so  strong 
that  the  Protestant  nobles  rose  in  armed  resistance  to 
their  persecutors.  In  1560,  by  the  aid  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth of  England,  the  government  forces  were  defeated, 
and  the  right  to  hold  a  free  parliament  was  extorted. 
This  body  met  on  the  first  day  of  August,  i'560.  One  of 
its  first  acts  was  to  abolish  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  prohibit  the  mass  under  severe 
penalties,  and  to  require  the  Protestant  ministers,  of  whom 
John  Knox  was  the  chief,  to  draw  up  a  confession  of  faith, 
which  was  there  and  then  adopted  as  the  standard  of  the 
national  church.  On  the  twentieth  of  December  of  the 
same  year,  the  ministers  and  many  of  the  leading  Protes- 
tant laymen  met  together  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
the  new  church,  and  devising  means  for  carrying  on  the 
work.  This  is  called  the  first  meeting  of  the  Scottish 
General  Assembly.  There  were  present  only  six  minis- 
ters and  thirty-four  laymen.  Their  first  step  was  to 
draw  up  a  book  of  church  order,  defining  the  system  of 
ecclesiastical  government  which  they  proposed  to  adopt, 
and  their  principles.of  church  discipline.  This  is  known 
as  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  standard  afterwards  adopted,  embodying  sub- 
stantially the  same  principles,  but  in  their  application  to 
the  system  more  thoroughly  developed  in  practice.  The 
system  thus  established  has  prevailed  in  the  Church  of 
Scotland  from  that  day  to  this,  and  has  come  down  to  us 
through  the  Westminster  Assembly.  Through  all  the 
intervening  years  the  Scotch  church  has  battled  and 
suffered  for  those  principles,  and  the  blood  of  its  martyrs, 


44  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

poured  out  like  water,  has  rendered  the  soil  of  Scotland 
sacred  ground  in  the  eyes  of  all  Presbyterians  the  world 
over.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that,  in  an  age  and 
country  in  which  for  so  long  a  time  they  had  been  ac- 
customed to  the  rule  of  a  powerful  hierarchy,  the  Scottish 
reformers  should  have  reached,  at  the  very  outset,  the 
true  and  scriptural  theory  of  the  church.  It  is  equally 
strange  that,  in  an  age  and  country  accustomed  to  mon- 
archy and  aristocracy  in  the  state,  they  should  have  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  a  republican  form  of  government  for 
the  church.  This  may  be  accounted  for  in  part  by  their 
acquaintance  with  the  Genevan  church  and  the  writings 
of  Calvin,  though  theirs  was  a  more  thorough  develop- 
ment of  Presbyterianism  than  prevailed  in  Geneva.  The 
real  cause,  however,  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  took  the 
Scriptures  as  their  sole  and  infallible  guide  of  faith  and 
practice,  and  modeled  their  church  organization  after 
that  which  was  established  by  the  apostles. 

But  although  Protestantism  in  Scotland  originated  in 
individual  conviction,  and  grew  by  the  propagation  of 
the  truth,  yet,  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  universally 
prevalent  in  those  days,  it  was,  as  a  church,  established 
by  an  ordinance  of  the  civil  government.  Thus  an  alli- 
ance of  church  and  state  was  formed,  which,  while  it 
furnished  a  support  and  defence  to  the  church  in  its 
exposed  and  feeble  infancy,  was  followed  in  later  years 
by  deplorable  results,  from  which  it  has  not  yet  re- 
covered. It  is  true  the  reformers  did  not  hold  that  this 
alliance  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  give  the  state  any 
power  over  the  church,  but  only,  as  at  Geneva,  to  sus- 
tain the  church  and  enforce  its  decrees.  But  the  politi- 
cians held  a  different  theory,  and  acted  upon  it  when  it 
could  be  made  to  serve  their  selfish  purposes.  Accord- 
ingly they  devised  a  scheme  by  which  the  titles  of  arch- 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  45 

bishops  and  bishops  were  continued  in  the  church, 
though  the  incumbents  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  exer- 
cise the  episcopal  powers.  The  object  of  this  scheme,  to 
which  the  Assembly  was  brought  reluctantly  to  subm-it 
as  an  ad  interim  arrangement,  was  to  enable  the  unscru- 
pulous politicians  to  get  control  of  the  funds  of  the 
church,  through  their  tools,  the  episcopal  appointees. 
This  was  a  clear  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  churqh 
and  the  wishes  of  the  Protestants.  For  if  there  was  any 
one  element  of  the  polity  of  the  old  church -to  which  the 
Scotch  were  peculiarly  hostile  it  was  episcopacy.  This 
arrangement  furnished  the  starting-point  of  a  systematic 
and  persistent  effort  to  force  episcopacy  on  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  which  was  stubbornly  resisted,  and  which  led 
to  untold  sufferings.  In  1580,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  celebrated  Andrew  Melville,  the  General  Assembly 
asserted  its  authority,  and,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  abol- 
ished the  arrangement  and  required  the  bishops  to 
demit  their  pretended  offices.  James  VI.  viewed  these 
proceedings  of  the  Assembly  with  the  greatest  disappro- 
bation, and  he  undertook  to  defeat  them  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  archbishop  of  Glasgow.  The  church,  how- 
ever, stood  firm,  though  brought  into  dangerous  collision 
with  the  king.  Melville  and  his  associates  were  of  the 
stuff  of  which  heroes  and  martyrs  are  made.  But  from 
this  time  to  the  close  of  his  reign  James  pursued  the 
uniform  policy  of  trying  to  subject  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  to  his  own  control,  to  deprive  them  of  all  authority, 
and  to  force  bishops  on  the  church.  He  felt  that  the 
freedom  of  the  Presbyterian  system  was  incompatible 
with  despotism  in  the  state,  while  the  bishops  could  be 
used  as  the  instruments  of  his  tyranny.  His  motto  was, 
"No  bishop,  no  king."  To  secure  the  subjugation  of 
the  church  he  did  not  hesitate  to  resort  to  deceit  and 


46  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

persecution.  Some  of  the  most  eminent  ministers  in  the 
king^dom  were  banished.  In  1603  he  succeeded  to  the 
English  throne,  under  the  title  of  James  I.  But  no 
change  was  made  by  this  in  his  ecclesiastical  policy, 
except  to  render  it,  if  possible,  more  uncompromising 
and  severe.  By  the  close  of  his  reign  in  1625,  the  pre- 
latical  party  had  secured  the  control  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  the  offices  of  bishop  and  archbishop  were  estab- 
lished, and  the  courts  of  the  church  were  virtually  sus- 
pended. 

From  the  course  pursued  by  James  towards  the  Church 
of  Scotland  we  can  easily  infer  his  policy  in  England. 
He  identified  himself  with  the  high  church  party.     He 
avowed,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  his  enmity  to  the 
Puritans.      Some,  who  petitioned  to  be  relieved  from  the 
disabilities  to  which  they  were  subjected,  were  thrown 
into  prison.     At  the  conclusion  of  the  Hampton  Court 
Conference  he  said  to  the  Puritan  representatives,    "If 
this  be  all  your  party  hath  to  say,  I  will  make  them  con- 
form themselves,  or  else  I  will  harrie  them  out  of  the 
kingdom,  or  else  do  worse,  only  hang  them  all."     This 
declaration  furnishes  the  key  to  his  subsequent  policy. 
Ministers  who  refused  to  conform  to  what  they  regarded 
as  superstitious  ceremonies  were  silenced,  and  sometimes 
shut  up  in  prison,  or  forced  to  leave  the  countr5\     Many 
distinguished  for  their  learning  and  pi^ty,  together  with 
their  devoted   followers,  preferred  exile,  with  religious 
liberty,    to   their  beloved  country  groaning  under  civil 
and  religious  despotism,  and  sought  refuge  in  Holland, 
where  English  churches  were  erected  after  the  Presby- 
terian model.     Some,  driven  by  episcopal  oppression  to 
the  opposite  extreme  of  church  government,  adopted  the 
independent    polity,    and    after   a    temporary   residence 
among  the  liberty- loving  and  hospitable  Dutch,  emigrated 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  47 

to  New  England,  and  laid  the  foundations  for  a  new 
church,  and  a  new  commonwealth.  The  foolish,  bigoted, 
and  tyrannical  rule  of  James  I.  was  one  of  the  chief 
causes  which  led  to  such  fatal  results  to  his  family  and 
his  kingdom,  and  to  that  great  religious  revolution  which 
culminated  in  the  Westminster  Assembly. 

Charles  I.  fell  heir  to  the  principles,  as  well  as  the 
throne,  of  his  father.  The  latest  of  the  great  English 
historians  speaks  of  ' '  the  strange  mixture  of  obstinacy 
and  weakness  in  his  character,  the  duplicity  which  lav- 
ished promises,  because  it  never  purposed  to  be  bound  by 
any,  and  the  petty  pride  that  subordinated  every  political 
consideration  to  personal  vanity  or  personal  pique." 
"There  is  reason  to  believe, "  says  Macaulay,  ' '  that  he  was 
perfidious,  not  only  from  constitution  and  from  habit,  but 
also  on  principle.  He  seems  to  have  learned  from  the 
theologians  whom  he  most  esteemed  that  between  him 
and  his  subjects  there  could  be  nothing  of  the  nature  of 
mutual  contract ;  that  he  could  not,  even  if  he  would, 
divest  himself  of  his  despotic  authority,  and  that,  in 
every  promise  which  he  made,  there  was  an  implied  re- 
servation that  such  promise  might  be  broken  in  case  of 
necessity,  and  that  of  the  necessity  he  was  the  sole 
judge."  This  is  the  man  whose  portrait  was  recently 
consecrated  ^'\\h.  solemn  religious  ceremonies,  performed 
by  high  religious  functionaries,  in  an  American  church. 
Such  an  act  is  but  little  less  than  profanation,  and  is 
treason  to  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Charles 
I.  undertook,  with  the  aid  of  Wentworth,  to  establish  a 
despotism  in  the  state,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Archbishop 
Laud,  a  despotism  in  the  church.  No  liberty  of  belief  or 
practice  was  to  be  allowed.  All  were  required  to  be 
members  of  the  Established  Church,  and  all  were  required 
to  conform,  in  the  minutest  particulars,  to  its  rites  and 


48  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

ceremonies.  Laud  was  an  Arminian  in  his  theology  and 
semipapal  in  his  ecclesiastical  polity.  His  purpose  was 
to  bring  the  Church  of  England  into  an  agreement  with 
the  Church  of  Rome  as  nearly  as  could  be  done  without 
abandoning  its  separate  existence.  He  was  not  content, 
therefore,  with  punishing  infractions  of  well-established 
laws  and  customs,  but  added  others  of  his  own  inven- 
tion, which  were  enforced  with  equal  severity.  The 
High  Commission  Court  and  the  Star  Chamber  Court 
were  the  instruments  of  his  oppressions.  Burton,  Prynne, 
Bastwick,  and  Leighton,  gentlemen  of  respectable  rank, 
learning,  and  piety,  for  advocating  in  print  views  of 
church  government  and  Christian  morality  displeasing 
to  Laud,  were  set  in  the  pillory,  scourged,  their  ears  cut 
off,  their  noses  split,  their  faces  branded  wdth  a  hot  iron, 
and  themselves  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment. 
Any  attempts  of  the  Parliament  to  check  these  outrages 
were  regarded  as  an  infringement  on  the  king's  preroga- 
tive as  the  head  of  the  church.  Episcopacy  had  already 
been  forced  upon  the  Scotch,  but  Laud  was  not  con- 
tent without  their  more  thorough  conformity  to  the 
Church  of  England,  and  now  proceeded  to  impose  upon 
them  a  Book  of  Canons  and  the  English  Liturgy,  or 
rather,  as  Macaulay  says,  "A  liturgy  which,  wherever 
it  differed  from  that  of  England,  differed,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  all  rigid  Protestants,  for  the  worse.  The  attempt 
to  enforce  these  foreign  ceremonies  produced  a  riot,  and 
the  riot  rapidly  became  a  revolution."  The  Scotch  en- 
tered into  a  solemn  covenant  with  one  another  and  with 
God  to  defend  their  religious  rights,  and  flew  to  arms. 
In  1640  the  English  Long  Parliament  met  and  proceeded 
to  correct  the  evils  of  the  administration,  both  civil  and 
religious.  The  bishops  were  excluded  from  the  House 
of  Lords ;   Laud  was  arrested,  impeached,  and  afterwards 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  49 

executed,   and  finall}^  the  episcopal  system  was  entirely- 
abolished. 

The  abolition  of  episcopacy  left  England  without  any 
national  church.  This  was  a  state  of  things  which, 
according  to  the  ideas  then  prevalent,  was  not  to  be 
allowed.  .  Consequently,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1643,  an 
ordinance  was  passed  by  Parliament  calling  an  assem- 
bly of  divines  to  meet  at  Westminster,  on  the  first  da)'^  of 
July  following,  for  the  purpose  of  reorganizing  the 
church ;  or,  in  the  language  of  the  title  of  the  ordinance 
itself,  "to  be  consulted  with  by  the  Parliament,  for  the 
settlement  of  the  government  and  liturgy  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  for  vindicating  and  clearing  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  said  church  from  false  aspersions  and  inter- 
pretations." The  Scottish  kirk  was  invited  to  send 
commissioners  to  aid  and  advise  in  the  deliberations  of 
this  Assembly,  and  about  the  same  time  the  two  nations 
entered  into  a  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  binding 
themselves,  amongst  other  things,  to  preserve  the  Re- 
formed religion  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  doctrine, 
worship,  discipline,  and  government ;  the  reformation  of 
religion  in  tlie  kingdoms  of  England  and  Ireland  in  doc- 
trine, discipline,  and  government,  according  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  the  example  of  the  best  Reformed  churches ; 
and  to  endeavor  to  bring  the  churches  of  God  in  the 
three  kingdoms  to  the  nearest  conjunction  and  uniformity 
in  religion,  confession  of  faith,  form  of  church  govern- 
ment, directory  for  worship,  and  catechising. 

The  religious  situation  of  Britain  at  the  time  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  was  the  result  of 
the  series  of  events  which  I  have  thus  endeavored  to 
outline.  It  can  be  understood  and  appreciated  only  by 
a  careful  consideration  of  the  causes  by  which  it  was 
produced. 


50  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

1 .  The  English  Puritans  and  the  Scotch  Puritans  had 
risen  against  their  oppressors  and  had  united  to  right 
their  wrongs.  In  England  the  national  church  had 
ceased  to  exist.  The  calling  of  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly was  necessary  to  the  formulating  of  their  common 
doctrines,  and  the  settlement  of  their  church  polity. 
The  great  majority  of  the  English  Puritans,  and  the 
entire  body  of  the  Scotch  Puritans,  were  Calvinistic  in 
their  theology,  and  Presbyterian  in  their  views  of  church 
government.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  this  system 
should  be  adopted. 

2.  There  was  a  small  but  growing  body  of  Indepen- 
dents in  England,  and  they  had  their  representatives  in 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  men  of  piety,  learning,  and 
ability.  They  rejected  the  idea  of  a  national  church 
altogether ;  indeed,  they  rejected  the  idea  of  anj^  visible 
organic  union  between  separate  congregations,  and  held 
to  the  self-governing  power  of  the  individual  churches, 
without  responsibility  to  any  superior  court  of  appeal, 
civil  or  religious.  They  professed  also  a  larger  religious 
toleration  than  either  the  Episcopalians  or  Presbyterians. 
How  much  this  tolerant  spirit  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  the  weaker  party,  we  cannot  determine.  One 
thing  is  true,  that  in  their  settlements  in  New  England, 
where  they  were  supreme,  they  were  not  tolerant.  This 
party  exerted  an  influence  in  the  Assembly  out  of  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers,  or  the  strength  of  their  princi- 
ples, through  the  support  of  Cromwell  and  the  army, 
and  they  were  able  to  obstruct  and  somewhat  modify  the 
Assembly's  action. 

3.  The  members  of  Parliament  were  mostly  Presbyte- 
rians, but  unfortunately  many  of  them  held  to  Erastian 
principles,  and  were  unwilling  to  relinquish  the  control 
of  the  church  by  the  state.     This  party  was  also  repre- 


The  Religious  Situation  of  Britain.  51 

sented  in  the  Assembly  by  some  of  the  greatest  scholars 
of  the  day,  such  as  Selden  and  Lightfoot.  Their  learn- 
ing and  eloquence  in  the  Assembly  had  no  effect  except 
to  prolong  the  discussion,  but  their  influence  in  Parlia- 
ment hindered  the  thorough  application  of  the  system 
adopted  by  the  Assembly  to  the  church  at  large. 

It  is  not  given  to  me  to  speak  of  the  results  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  re- 
mark, that  it  is  to  the  peculiar  experiences  of  the  people 
of  God  in  England  and  Scotland,  their  long  contentions 
for  the  truth,  and  their  bitter  persecutions,  during  the 
period  over  which  we  have  travelled  in  this  discourse, 
that  we  are  indebted  for  that  incomparable  statement  and 
definition  of  Christian  doctrine,  which  forms  the  stan- 
dards of  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  England,  Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  America. 


REV.   T.   U.  Wn  HKRSPOON,   U.   D.,   LL    D. 


in. 

THE  WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY:  ITS  PLACE  OF 
MEETING,  ITS  PROCEEDINGS,  AND  ITS  PER- 
SONNEL. 

BY 

Rev.  T.  D.  WITHERSPOON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
AT  LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY. 


53 


ANALYSIS. 

The  place  of  meeting. — External  description.— The  Abbot's 
Place. — The  doorway  and  entrance. — The  Jerusalem  Chamber.— 
Why  so  named. — Its  size. — Window. — Fireplace.— Refectory. ^ — 
Tapestry  hangings. — Here  Assembly  met,  1643.— Varied  memo- 
ries of  the  place. — The  ordinance  calling  the  Assembly. — The 
proceedings. — The  opening  service. — The  sermon  by  Dr.  Twisse. 
— Parliament  present. — Constitution  of  the  Assembly.— Number 
of  members. — Number  attending. — Assessors. — Scottish  Com- 
missioners.— Most  of  the  members  connected  with  the  national 
church. — All  Calvinists  in  doctrine. — Doctrinal  harmony. — Div- 
ided in  polity. — Five  parties. — Episcopalians. — Independents.— 
Presbyterians.— Moderate  Presbyterians.— Moderate  Episcopa- 
lians.—Description  of  the  Assembly  proceedings.— How  they 
conducted  debate.  —  The  moderator. — The  vice-moderators. — 
Two  scribes. — How  the  members  were  seated  about  the  cham- 
ber.—Their  varied  costumes. — The  days  and  hours  of  sitting.— 
The  committees  of  the  Assembly. — How  they  worked. — The 
quorum  was  forty  members. — The  devotional  services. — The 
order  of  discussion. — Baillie's  description. — The  leading  men  in 
the  Assembly.— Twisse.— Burgess.— Palmer.— Selden.—Pym.— 
Rouse.  —  Lightf  oot.  —  Gataker. — Coleman .  —  Marshall.  —  Arrow- 
smith.— Tuckney. —  Hoyle.— Wallis.  —  Henderson:  his  work. — 
Gillespie:  his  ability. — Rutherford. — The  general  character  of 
the  Assembly  for  ability,  learning  and  piety. — Placed  high  in 
each  particular. — Clarendon's  estimate  unfair. — Milton's  scarcely 
impartial. — The  Satirists'  absurd. — Banter's  more  impartial. — 
High  character. — They  had  profound  reverence  for  the  authority 
of  Holy  Scripture. — Had  deep  sense  of  dependence  on  God.— 
They  spent  much  time  in  prayer.— They  fasted  at  times,  once  a 
month  at  least. — Solemn  religious  services. — Lightfoot's  descrip- 
tion of  one  fast-day  given. — Collection  taken  for  poor. — A  single 
prayer  two  hours  long. — Rugged  men  for  rugged  work  in  rugged 
times. — Like  a  sea-girt  island — on  windward  side  strong  cliffs 
withstand  the  raging  waves,  and  protect  the  leeward  side,  with 
its  fruits  and  flowers — so  they  stood  against  the  storm  of  their 
time. — We  have  the  blessing  they  procured. — We  should  be 
grateful. 


54 


III. 

THE  WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY:  ITS  PLACE  OF 
MEETING,  ITS  PROCEEDINGS,  AND  ITS  PER- 
SONNEL. 


THE  visitor  to  Westminster  Abbey,  as  he  approaches 
its  western  or  principal  front,  is  struck  with  what 
at  first  view  seems  a  singular  blemish  upon  architecture 
otherwise  faultless  and  imposing.  Immediately  in  front 
of  the  lofty  fagade,  clinging  like  a  barnacle  to  its  base,  is 
a  small  rectangular  structure,  humble  of  proportion  and 
homely  of  style,  which  begins  just  south  of  the  great 
central  doorway  of  the  cathedral,  and  extends  across  the 
entire  southern  part  of  the  front,  connecting  itself  with 
a  larger  building  on  the  right,  of  which  it  forms  a  part, 
and  which  was  originally  the  "Abbot's  Place,"  or 
home  of  the  abbot  and  his  Benedictine  monks.  The 
little  structure,  though  it  does  obstruct,  as  far  as  its 
poor  altitude  will  allow,  the  view  of  the  stately  cathe- 
dral, has,  nevertheless,  a  real  significance  in  art.  It 
serves  as  a  foil  to  set  forth  more  conspicuously  the  lofti- 
ness of  the  cathedral,  and  to  heighten  our  impressions  of 
its  grandeur,  the  little  homely  structure  fitly  represent- 
ing the  humble  abode  of  man ;  the  lofty  cathedral  with 
magnificent  reach  of  tower  and  arch,  of  gable  and  spire, 
an  appropriate  symbol  of  the  sublime  dwelling-place  of 
God. 

And  now,  if  we  turn  but  a  step  or  two  to  the  right 
from  the  walk  leading  to  the  great  central  doorway,  we 
shall  find  a  modest  door  opening  into  this  little  building, 

55 


56  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

and  if  we  are  so  fortunate  as  to  gain  admission,  shall 
find  ourselves  in  the  celebrated  Jerusalem  Chamber.  It 
is  a  narrow,  rectangular  room,  running  north  and  south, 
about  forty  feet  in  length  by  twenty  in  breadth.  The 
small  door,  at  which  we  suppose  ourselves  to  have  en- 
tered, is  on  the  western  side  of  the  room  and  very  near 
its  northern  end.  As  from  our  point  of  entrance  we 
look  down  the  long  room,  we  see  that  its  western  wall 
is  pierced  at  the  centre  by  a  large  double  window,  the 
only  one  opening  into  the  room,  and,  indeed,  the  only 
one  needed,  as  it  pours  in  a  great  flood  of  light.  Im- 
mediately opposite  this  window  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  room,  is  a  great  fireplace  with  its  open  grate,  the 
genial  warmth  from  which  attracted  the  Assembly  to 
this  chamber  as  a  meeting-place  when  the  chapel  of 
Henry  VII.  had  become  uncomfortable  by  reason  of  the 
cold.  Beyond  the  fireplace,  and  almost  at  the  end  of  the 
room,  opens  a  doorway,  the  principal  one  in  size  and 
importance.  It  leads  through  an  ante-chamber,  and  by 
connecting  hallways,  into  what  was  once  the  refectory" 
or  dining  hall  of  the  Abbey.  The  chamber  in  which  we 
stand  was  in  the  ancient  days  of  monastery  the  ' '  with- 
drawing-room  "  or  private  apartment  of  the  abbot,  to 
which  he  retired  for  meditation  and  prayer;  and  the 
small  door  through  which  we  suppose  ourselves  to  have 
entered  opened  into  his  conservatory  or  garden.  The 
name,  Jerusalem  Chamber,  was  derived  from  the  tapes- 
tries with  which  the  walls  were  hung  in  earlier  days, 
and  which  portrayed  different  scenes  in  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem.  The  visitor  to-day  finds  the  walls  hung 
with  tapestries,  but  not  with  those  which  originally  gave 
the  name.  Indeed,  even  when  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly held  its  sessions,  the  original  tapestries  had 
given  place   to  others    representing   the   history   of  the 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  57 

planets.  The  latter,  which  have  since  given  place  in  their 
turn  to  others,  must  have  been  attractive,  for  old  Robert 
Baillie,  "the  Boswell  of  the  Assembly,"  whose  eye 
nothing  escapes,  tells  us  in  one  of  his  inimitable  letters 
that  the  room  was  ' '  well  hung, "  as  he  also  tells  us  that 
the  light  from  the  great  window  was  softened  by  ' '  cur- 
tains of  pale  thread  with  red  roses,"  and  that  the  room 
"has  a  good  fyre,  which  is  some  dainties  at  London." 

What  memories  cluster  about  these  walls !  The 
painting  over  the  fireplace,  with  its  encircling  Scripture 
texts,  reminds  us  that  it  was  in  this  chamber  that  Henry 
IV.,  the  grim  old  warrior,  put  off  his  crown  at  the  touch 
of  death.  For  when,  in  his  extreme  old  age,  he  had 
thought  to  do  penance  for  his  usurpation  by  a  crusade 
for  the  recovery  of  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  when,  with 
the  royal  galleys  in  port,  ready  to  bear  him  to  sea,  he 
had  come  to  pay  his  parting  devotions  at  the  shrine  of 
Edward  the  Confessor,  he  was  seized  with  a  chill,  and 
borne  into  this  chamber  and  laid  before  the  fire  on  a 
pallet  until  a  chamber  could  be  fitted  for  him.  And 
when  he  had  been  borne  to  his  bed  in  another  room,  and 
realized  that  the  end  was  at  hand,  there  occurred  the 
scene  which  Shakespeare  has  dramatized  for  us  in  im- 
mortal verse : 

"King  Henry:   Doth  any  name  particular  belong 
Unto  the  lodging  where  I  first  did  swoon? 
Warwick:   'Tis  called  Jerusalem,  my  noble  lord. 
King  Henry:   Laud  be  to  God !  even  there  my  life  must  end. 
It  hath  been  prophesied  to  me  many  years, 
I  should  not  die  but  in  Jerusalem  ; 
Which  vainly  I  suppos'd  the  Holy  Land. 
But  bear  me  to  that  chamber;  there  I'll  lie; 
In  that  Jerusalem  shall  Harry  die." 

In  this  chamber  Sir  Thomas  More  was  confined  for 
four  days  on  his  way  to  the  Tower,  where  he  was  held 


58  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

in  cruel  imprisonment  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  from  which 
he  was  led  forth  to  execution.  Here  lay  in  state  the 
body  of  Dr.  Robert  South,  the  greatest  and  wittiest  of 
English  court  preachers.  From  this  chamber  was  car- 
ried forth,  after  lying  in  state  for  four  days,  the  body  of 
Addison  in  that  memorable  funeral  procession  at  dead  of 
night  which  Lord  Macaulay  has  so  graphically  described, 
when  "Bishop  Atterbury,  one  of  those  Tories  who  had 
loved  and  honored  the  most  accomplished  of  the  Whigs, 
met  the  corpse  and  led  the  procession  by  torchlight 
round  the  shrine  of  St.  Edward  and  the  graves  of  the 
Plantagenets  to  the  chapel  of  Henry  VII.,"  Whig  and 
Tory  vying  with  each  other  to  do  honor  to  England's 
illustrious  essayist  and  litterateio-. 

Here,  also,  lay  in  state  the  body  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
wept  by  the  whole  world,  and  followed  forth  by  the 
leading  members  of  the  Royal  Society  as  its  escort,  to  be 
buried,  as  the  London  Gazette  of  the  following  week  in- 
forms us,  "in  a  spot  in  front  of  the  choir,  which,  being 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  in  the  Abbey,  had  been 
previously  refused  to  various  noblemen  who  had  applied 
for  it."  Nor  are  the  associations  with  the  Jerusalem 
Chamber  altogether  sad.  Twenty  years  or  more  before 
the  gathering  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  the  Abbey 
became  the  residence  of  John  Williams,  one  of  the  most 
notable  men  of  his  day,  who  was  at  once  Dean  of  West- 
minster and  Archbishop  of  York,  ' '  the  last  churchman, ' ' 
says  Dean  Stanley,  "who  occupied  at  once  an  arch- 
bishoprick  and  a  deanery,  one  of  the  few  eminent  Welch- 
men  who  have  figured  in  history."  Dean  Williams  was 
possessed  with  a  noble  passion  both  for  architecture  and 
for  music.  He  expended  several  thousand  pounds  in 
the  repairing  and  beautifying  of  the  Abbey,  using  onl}^ 
his  own  private  means ;    ' '  neither, ' '   says  the  chapter- 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  59 

liouse  record,  "would  he  impatronize  his  name  to  the 
credit  of  that  work  which  should  be  raised  by  other 
men's  collatitious  liberality."  The  Jerusalem  Chamber 
was  his  special  delight.  The  attractions  which  drew  the 
Assembly  to  it  were  largely  due  to  his  care.  Here  he 
gave  musical  entertainments  which  were  the  delight  of 
London,  as  "he  made  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  a  volary 
■of  the  choicest  singers  that  the  land  had  bred. ' '  Here, 
also,  he  gave  royal  banquets,  and  when,  in  1624,  the 
ambassadors  from  the  court  of  France  w€re  present  to 
arrange  for  the  ill-starred  marriage  of  Charles  I.  to 
Henrietta  Maria,  a  banquet  was  ordered  to  be  given  by 
the  dean  in  their  honor;  and  so,  as  Bernard,  the  old 
chronicler,  tells  us,  "the  king's  will  signified,  the  in- 
vytement  at  a  supper  was  given  and  taken,  which  was 
provyded  in  the  coUedge  of  Westminster,  in  the  roome 
named  Hierusalem  Chamber." 

Thus,  through  scenes  alternatively  of  sorrow  and  joy, 
the  old  chamber  passed  as  the  generations  rolled  by,  but 
for  all  time  its  chief  claim  to  historic  interest  will  arise 
out  of  its  connection  with  the  proceedings  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly,  to  which  we  will  now  direct  our 
attention. 

The  ordinance  convening  the  Assembly  passed  both 
liouses  of  Parliament  and  became  a  law  on  the  1 2th  of 
June,  1643.  It  was  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  Calling  of 
an  Assembly  of  Godly  Divines  and  Others."  It  directed 
that  they  should  meet  ' '  at  Westminster,  in  the  chappell 
called  King  Henry  the  Seventh's  Chappell,  on  the  first 
day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1643  ....  to  con - 
ferre  and  treate  amongst  themselves  of  such  matters  and 
things  touching  and  concerning  the  liturgy,  discipline 
and  government  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  the  vindi- 
cating and  clearing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  same  from  all 


6o  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

false  aspersions  and  misconstructions,  as  shall  be  pro- 
posed unto  them  by  both  or  either  of  the  said  houses  of 
Parliament,  and  no  other ;  and  to  deliver  their  opinion 
and  advices  of,  or  touching,  the  matters  aforesaid,  as 
shall  be  most  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  to  both  or 
either  of  the  said  houses  from  time  to  time,  in  such 
manner  or  sort  as  by  both  or  either  of  the  said  houses  of 
Parliament  shall  be  required ;  and  at  the  same  time  not 
to  divulge  by  printing,  writing,  or  otherwise,  without 
the  consent  of  both  or  either  houses  of  Parliament." 

In  obedience  to  this  ordinance,  on  Saturday,  July  i, 
1643,  the  Assembly  met  in  the  Abbey  in  the  face  of  a 
great  company,  and  its  proceedings  were  opened  with  a 
sermon  by  Rev.  William  Twisse,  D.  D.,  the  prolocutor, 
from  the  text,  John  xiv.  18,  "I  will  not  leave  you  com- 
fortless," "a  text,"  says  the  old  chronicler  of  that  day, 
"pertinent  to  these  times  of  sorrow  and  anguish  and 
misery,  to  raise  up  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  people  of 
God  who  lie  under  the  pressure  of  popish  wars  and  com- 
bustion." Immediately  after  this  service,  in  which 
both  houses  of  Parliament  were  present  and  took  part, 
and  which  was  probably  held  in  the  choir  of  the  Abbey, 
the  members  designated  to  the  Assembly  ascended  the 
steps  of  the  Chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  and  there  the  enroll- 
ment was  made. 

The  ordinance  constituting  the  Assembly  called  for 
two  divines  from  each  county  of  England  and  one  from 
each  county  of  Wales.  To  these  were  added  four  from 
the  city  of  London,  two  from  each  of  the  two  universi- 
ties, two  from  Ireland,  and  others  from  important 
boroughs,  so  that  the  whole  number  of  divines  named 
in  the  ordinance  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-one.  If 
all  had  attended  there  would  have  been  a  fair  representa- 
tion of  all  shades  of  Protestant  belief  in  the  land,  except 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  6i 

that  of  the  extreme  high-churchmen  represented  by 
Archbishop  Laud  on  the  one  hand,  and  that  of  the  ex- 
treme Independents  on  the  other,  who  really  believed  in 
no  form  of  church  government.  In  point  of  fact  the 
advocates  of  an  episcopal  form  of  government .  including 
Archbishop  Ussher,  Bishops  Brownri gge  and  Westfield 
and  many  others,  were,  for  the  most  part,  royalists,  and 
as  the  king,  by  royal  proclamation  from  his  camp,  for- 
bade the  gathering  of  the  Assembly,  they  all,  with  the 
exception  of  Bishop  Westfield  and  Dr.  Featiey,  declined 
to  attend.  The  former  of  these  two  died  very  soon  after 
the  sitting  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  latter,  having  vio- 
lated the  ordinance  of  Parliament  in  reference  to  divulge. 
ing  the  Assembly's  proceedings,  was,  by  order  of  that 
body,  expelled  before  Dr.  Westfield' s  death.  Those 
who  actually  attended  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings, 
about  eighty-five  in  all  of  the  original  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one,  together  with  some  twenty  or  thirty  others 
whose  names  were  added  by  Parliament  from  time  to 
time  to  fill  vacancies  occasioned  by  declinature  or  by 
death,  were,  with  few  exceptions,  Presbyterian  in  views 
of  church  polity,  though  regularly  in  orders  in  the 
Church  of  England. 

To  these  divines,  the  number  of  whom  from  first  to 
last  amounted  to  something  like  one  hundred  and  fifteen, 
must  be  added  thirty  ' '  lay  assessors ' '  as  they  were 
called,  twenty  of  whom  were  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  ten  of  the  House  of  Lords.  Of  the  ten 
peers  very  few  attended  with  any  regularity,  and  none 
took  any  prominent  part.  Of  the  commoners,  however, 
many  were  constant  and  interested  attendants,  and  a  few 
amongst  them  took  free  and  active  part  in  the  discus- 
sions, although  one  of  the  latter  class,  the  illustrious 
John  Selden,   says   facetiously,   in  his    Table   Talk,   that 


62  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  lay  assessors  were  sent  not  to  do  work,  but  merely 
"  to  overlook  the  clergy,  just  as  when  the  good  woman 
puts  a  cat  into  the  railkhouse  to  kill  a  mouse  she  sends 
her  maid  to  look  after  the  cat,  lest  the  cat  should  eat  up 
the  cream."  Nor  must  we  fail  to  add  the  small,  but 
most  potent  Scottish  contingent ;  the  General  Assembly  of 
Scotland,  having,  in  view  of  the  prospective  adoption  of 
the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  for  uniformity  of  reli- 
gion throughout  the  realm,  named  four  of  her  ablest  di- 
vines, and  three  of  her  most  illustrious  laymen,  as  Com- 
missioners to  the  Westminster  Assembly.  Five  of  these, 
four  ministers  and  one  layman,  appeared  and  took  their 
seats,  and,  though  declining  to  vote,  took  very  active 
part  in  the  discussions  and  debates,  and,  as  the  results 
show,  really  exerted  a  moulding  influence  upon  all  the 
work  of  the  Assembly. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  doctrinal  beliefs  of  these 
men  from  all  parts  of  the  realm,  and  all,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Scotch  Commissioners,  and  a  few  Indepen- 
dents, in  the  regular  communion  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, we  may  be  surprised  to  be  told  that  they  were,  to 
a  man,  and  through  and  through,  Calvinists.  If  there 
was  an  Arminian  in  all  the  body  he  did  not  have  the 
courage  to  lift  his  head.  Nor  should  this  surprise  us, 
for  the  Church  of  England,  in  all  the  days  of  its  noble 
struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty,  was,  in  its  best 
elements,  as  intensely  Calvinistic  as  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, or  that  of  Holland.  All  the  great  English  Reform- 
ers, Anselm,  Bradwardine,  Tyndal,  Wycliffe,  Ussher, 
Whitgift,  and  others,  were  Calvinists.  Men  may  play 
with  Arminianism  in  times  of  peace,  but  in  the  great 
crises  of  spiritual  conflict  there  is  nothing  but  the  solid 
bedrock  of  the  eternal  sovereignty  of  God  on  which  the 
foot  can  rest  with  any  sense  of  security  ;   and  in  times 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  63 

like  these,  churches,  as  well  as  individuals,  unconsciously- 
become  Calvinists.  The  Westminster  Assembly  was  not 
called  together  to  formulate  a  creed.  It  already  had  one, 
clearly  enunciated,  universally  accepted — the  one  Calvin- 
istic  creed  of  the  great  Reformed  Church  in  all  its 
branches.  The  language  of  their  commission  was,  as  we 
have  already  quoted  it,  very  explicit :  ' '  For  the  vindi- 
cating and  clearing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  same  (the 
Church  of  England)  from  all  false  aspersions  and  mis- 
constructions." They  were  not  to  frame- a  creed,  but 
to  state  the  accepted  creed  of  the  church  in  language 
that  would  not  be  open  to  the  aspersions  of  the  cavilling, 
or  to  the  misconstructions  of  honest  inquirers  after  truth. 
In  the  matter  of  church  polity,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Assembly  was  greatly  divided.  First,  as  to  the  proper 
form  of  church  government,  at  least  five  parties  come 
into  prominence  in  the  discussions.  On  the  one  extreme 
are  a  fev/  advocates  of  episcopal  government,  pure  and 
simple,  as  we  have  it  in  the  Church  of  England  at  the 
present  time.  On  the  other  extreme  are  a  few  Indepen- 
dents, numbering  amongst  them  some  of  the  ablest  men 
of  the  body,  especially  those  known  as  ' '  the  five  dissent- 
ing brethren,"  Thomas  Goodwin,  Philip  Nye,  William 
Bridge,  Jeremiah  Burroughs,  and  Sidrack  Simpson,  all 
recently  returned  from  exile  in  Holland,  and  recognized 
as  amongst  the  ablest  debaters  and  most  learned  men  of 
the  body.  They  are  in  favor  of  a  purely  congregational 
form  of  government,  as  we  have  it  in  our  Baptist  and 
Congregational  churches  to-day.  Between  these  ex- 
tremes are  three  other  clearly-defined  parties.  Leaning 
toward  the  Episcopalians,  and  constituting  what  we  may 
call  the  right  centre,  is  a  very  strong  party,  including 
the  Prolocutor,  Dr.  Twisse,  Mr.  Gataker,  Mr.  Palmer, 
Dr.  Temple,  and  many  other  eminent  men,  who  incline 


64  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

to  a  Presby terianism ,  with  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  and 
Synods,  but  modified  by  an  order  of  superintendents  who 
shall  really  have  many  of  the  functions  of  bishops,  but 
without  the  name.  Over  against  them,  constituting 
what  we  may  call  the  left  centre,  were  the  Scotch  Com- 
missioners, and  the  English  divines  and  laymen  of  the 
school  of  Cartwright,  who  contended  with  all  their  elo- 
quence, learning,  and  genius,  for  ^jitre  divino  Presbyte- 
rianism,  as  explicitly  ordained  in  Scripture.  Between 
these,  as  the  true  centre  of  discussion,  was  the  large 
body  who  held  to  a  Presbyterian  form  of  government, 
not  as  authoritatively  ordained  in  Scripture,  but  as  con- 
sistent with  the  teaching  of  the  word  of  God,  and  as  con- 
servative of  the  spiritual  liberties  of  the  people.  It  was 
upon  this  centre  that  the  Assembly  finally  rested,  its 
Book  of  Discipline  containing  a  Presbyterianism  pure 
and  unmodified,  not  as  jure  divino,  but  as  "lawful  and 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God. ' ' 

In  the  matter  of  church  discipline  there  was  wide  di- 
vergence, leading  to  prolonged  and  heated  debate. 
There  was  a  party  of  Erastians  in  the  Assembl}^  small 
in  number,  but  containing  some  of  the  ablest  and  most 
illustrious  men,  not  only  of  the  Assembly,  but  of  the 
age  in  which  they  lived.  It  is  only  necessary  to  recall 
the  names  of  Selden,  Lightfoot,  and  Coleman  to  exhibit 
something  of  its  strength ;  and,  strong  as  it  was  in  the 
ability  of  its  defenders,  it  was  still  .stronger  from  the  well- 
known  sympathy  and  support  of  the  Parliament ;  for  al- 
though that  body  had  unceremoniously  stripped  the  king 
of  all  ecclesiastical  authority,  it  had  done  so  with  the 
express  purpose  of  retaining  in  its  own  hands  the  powder 
of  administering  discipline  for  spiritual  offenses,  so  that 
the  Erastians  of  the  Assembly  counted  on  the  weight  of 
the  Parliament's  well-known  support. 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  65 

Having  thus  indicated  the  Hnes  along  which  discussion 
would  naturally  run,  it  may  be  interesting  to  look  in  for 
a  moment  upon  the  working  of  the  Assembly  itself. 
The  Jerusalem  Chamber  has  been  specially  fitted  to 
receive  the  body.  At  the  northern  end  a  platform,  a 
foot  in  height,  has  been  erected  to  receive  the  chair  of 
the  Prolocutor,  or,  as  we  would  say.  Moderator  of  the 
body.  Immediately  in  front  of  this  platform,  upon  the 
floor,  one  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left,  are  two 
chairs  for  the  two  "  Master- Assessors,"  or>  as  we  would 
say.  Vice- Moderators.  Beginning  a  little  in  front  of  the 
Moderator's  platform,  and  extending  down  through  almost 
the  entire  length  of  the  chamber,  is  a  long,  narrow  table, 
and  at  the  upper  end  of  this  are  two  chairs,  for  the  two 
"scribes,"  or,  as  we  would  say,  clerks  of  the  Assembly. 
Along  the  western  side  of  the  room,  beginning  near  the 
long  table,  and  extending  upward  to  the  wall,  are  sev- 
eral of  what  Robert  Baillie  calls  "rankes  of  formes,"  or 
what  we  would  call  tiers  of  seats,  each  tier  seating  com- 
fortably ten  or  twelve  persons.  The  seats  on  the  lowest 
tier,  and  on  the  end  nearest  the  Prolocutor,  are  given,  as 
the  place  of  honor  on  the  Prolocutor's  right  to  the  Scotch 
Commissioners ;  the  remaining  seats  in  all  the  tiers  are 
reserved  for  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons.  To 
the  Prolocutor's  left,  running  along  the  eastern  wall,  as 
far  as  the  fireplace,  are  similar  tiers  of  seats ;  and  at  the 
extreme  end  of  the  room,  along  the  whole  southern  wall, 
are  similar  tiers  also.  These  two  divisions  of  seats  are 
occupied  by  the  English  divines,  who  fill  them  pretty 
closely.  An  open  space  is  left  about  the  fireplace,  and 
there,  on  comfortable  chairs,  which  they  can  move  about 
at  will,  sit  the  members  from  the  House  of  Lords,  when- 
ever it  pleases  their  lordships  to  be  present. 

It  is  an  interesting  sight  to  stand  by  the  Prolocutor's 
5 


66  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

chair  and  look  over  the  body,  the  lords  with  their  jaunty 
cloaks  and  their  dangling  swords;  the  English  divines 
in  their  black  gowns  and  Geneva  bands ;  here  and  there 
a  churchman  in  his  full  canonicals  ;  the  commoners  with 
their  short  cloaks,  knee  breeches  and  silken  hose,  the 
sombre  colors  constrasting  notably  with  the  gay  foppery 
of  the  lords;  and  then,  the  Scotch  Commissioners,  clean 
shaven  and  close  shorn,  with  waistcoats  buttoning  closely 
up  to  their  chins,  snugly-fitting  coats,  knee  breeches 
and  silver-buckled  shoes. 

The  Assembly  sat  every  day  in  the  week  except 
Saturday.  Its  usual  hours  were  from  9  A.  m.  to  3  p.  m. 
It  was  broken  up  into  three  great  committees,  on  one  or 
the  other  of  which  every  member's  name  was  enrolled. 
To  each  committee  one  section  was  assigned  of  the  work 
to  be  done.  When  this  committee  had  prepared  the  sec- 
tion carefully  with  all  the  Scripture  proofs  bearing  upon 
it,  it  reported  to  the  Assembly  and  another  section  was 
assigned.  Nothing  could  come  before  the  Assembly 
that  had  not  first  been  carefully  digested  and  formulated 
by  one  of  the  committees.  At  the  hour  fixed  for  assem- 
bling, the  Prolocutor  took  his  seat  and  opened  with 
prayer.  Forty  constituted  a  quorum.  If  that  number 
were  present,  the  proceedings  of  the  previous  day's  ses- 
sion were  read,  and  the  business  proceeded.  If  a  quorum 
were  not  present,  the  body  resolved  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  for  informal  conference  and  discus- 
sion until  a  quorum  was  had.  Then  Mr.  BN-field  arose, 
read  the  section  or  paragraph  under  discussion,  then  the 
first  passage  of  Scripture  in  its  support,  and  the  issue 
was  joined.  The  rules  of  procedure  were  similar  to 
those  in  one  of  our  presbyteries,  with  a  single  notable 
exception :  if  two  or  more  speakers  sought  the  floor  at 
the  same  time,  instead  of  the  presiding  officer,  as  with 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.         67 

us,  deciding  the  question  of  right  to  the  floor,  the  deci- 
sion was  left  to  the  body  of  the  Assembly,  each  member 
shouting  vociferously  the  name  of  the  one  whom  he  de- 
sired to  hear  ;  and  so,  amidst  a  din  well  represented  in 
the  engraving  of  the  Assembly,  which  some  of  us  may 
have  seen,  entitled  "  Cry  him  down,"  "the  divines," 
as  old  Robert  Baillie  tells  us,  ' '  conf usedlie  call  on  his 
name  whom  they  desire  to  heare  speake,  and  on  whome 
the  loudest  and  maniest  voices  call,  he  speakes. ' ' 

In  an  Assembly  full  of  men  of  striking  personality,  and 
of  prominent  relation  to  the  stirring  events  of  the  time,  it 
is  difficult  to  decide  what  particular  characters  it  may 
be  most  interesting  to  study.  Let  us  begin  with  the 
Prolocutor,  Rev.  William  Twisse,  D.  D.  He  was  one 
of  the  notable  men  of  his  day.  A  man  of  sixty-eight 
years  of  age,  a  scholar  crowned  with  the  highest  honors 
of  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  high  Calvinist  of  the  su- 
pralapsarian  school,  and  a  theologian  of  such  profound 
erudition  and  such  speculative  genius  that  his  great 
Latin  folios  as  they  came  forth,  one  after  another,  filled 
all  the  continent  of  Europe  with  his  fame,  so  that  it  has 
been  said  that  he  was  better  known  and  more  honored 
abroad  than  at  home,  he  was,  neverthdless,  so  modest 
and  retiring,  so  wedded  to  the  seclusion  of  his  study  and 
so  indifferent  to  fame,  that  he  declined  all  offers  of  pro- 
motion and  remained  to  the  day  of  his  death  in  an 
humble  vicarage  at  Newbury.  Appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment to  the  prolocutorship  of  the  Assembly,  no  position 
could  have  been  given  him  for  which  he  was  less  fitted 
or  whose  duties  were  more  irksome  to  him.  Unskilled 
in  parliamentary  law,  difl&dent  of  his  own  judgment,  in- 
capable of  strong  self-assertion,  dreamy  and  absent- 
minded  in  the  midst  of  the  long  debates,  he  strove  to  do 
his  duty  in  an  office  which  he  would  have  been  only  too 


68  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

glad  to  demit,  but  to  which  he  was  held  b}^  the  order  of 
Parliament,  it  being,  saj^s  Dr.  Baillie,  "the  canny  con- 
veyance of  those  who  guide  most  matters  for  their  own 
interest,  to  plant  such  a  man  of  purposes  in  the  chair. ' ' 

In  one  respect,  however,  he  was  admirably  fitted  for 
his  office.  One  of  his  duties  was  to  make  both  the  open- 
ing and  closing  prayer  at  every  meeting  of  the  Assembly ; 
and,  being  a  man  of  intense  fervor  and  consecration, 
twice  a  day  he  carried  the  Assembly,  with  all  its  cares 
and  burdens,  on  his  great  heart  up  to  the  throne ;  and  it 
was  while  thus  importunately  pleading  that  he  was 
stricken  with  his  last  illness,  and,  falling  back  in  his 
chair,  was  carried  to  his  bed  to  rise  no  more.  ,  A  touch- 
ing revelation  of  his  true  character  appears  in  the  state- 
ment of  his  biographer,  that,  when  informed  that  the 
end  was  near,  a  smile  irradiated  the  face  of  the  old 
scholar  and  theologian,  as  he  exclaimed  with  animation, 
"Now,  at  length,  I  shall  have  leisure  to  follow  my 
studies  to  all  eternity. ' ' 

Turning  from  Dr.  Twisse  to  the  Master  Assessor,  who 
occupies  the  chair  in  front  and  to  his  right,  we  find  a 
man  of  altogether  different  mould.  Dr.  Cornelius  Bur- 
gess is  not  wanting  in  scholarship  and  learning,  for  he 
has  taken  both  degrees  in  divinity  at  Oxford,  and  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  learned  divines  and  most 
powerful  preachers  in  London ;  but,  unlike  Dr.  Twisse, 
he  is  every  inch  a  soldier.  A  man  of  fifty,  with  iron- 
gray  hair,  shortly  cropped,  erect  and  stalwart  frame,  he 
comes  in  with  the  step  of  a  soldier,  makes  a  military 
wheel  as  he  takes  his  chair,  looks  with  the  eye  of  an 
eagle  over  the  Assembly,  and,  when  he  speaks,  speaks 
with  the  impetuosity  of  a  mountain  torrent.  As  early 
as  1627  he  had  been  chaplain  to  Charles  I.  In  the  con- 
flict between  Charles  and  the  Parliament  he  had  thrown 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  69 

himself  with  all  his  fiery  energy  into  the  cause  of  the 
Parliament.  He  has  been  four  times  before  the  Court 
of  High  Commission,  and  now  as  he  sits  in  the  Assembly 
he  is  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Essex's  regiment  of  horse 
in  Cromwell's  army,  and  is  now  and  then  absent  from 
his  seat  as  he  goes  to  the  front  and  ministers  in  true 
Puritan  style  to  the  men  of  his  command  in  bivouac  or 
on  the  battle-field. 

How  different  from  either  of  those  mentioned  the  man 
who  occupies  until  his  death  the  other  assessor's  chair, 
Mr.  Herbert  Palmer,  sitting  in  place  of  Mr.  White, 
whose  health  has  never  permitted  him  _to  attend.  Di- 
minutive of  stature,  he  is  known  as  "the  little  Mr. 
Palmer";  but,  though  small  of  body,  he  is -a  man  of 
gigantic  intellect,  and  of  such  nobility  of  nature  and 
greatness  of  soul  as  to  win  universal  admiration  and 
love.  He  is,  perhaps,  the  most  accomplished  in  polite 
literature  of  the  English  divines.  So  fluent  and  graceful 
is  he  in  the  use  both  of  the  French  and  Latin  tongues 
that  he  is  charged  with  the  conduct  of  the  foreign  cor- 
respondence of  the  Assembly.  He  is  master  of  Queen's 
College  at  Cambridge,  and  university  lecturer,  a  man  of 
independent  fortune,  who  delights  to  use  it  in  the  educa- 
tion of  young  men  for  the  ministry  and  for  other  good 
causes.  But  his  chief  attraction  for  us  is  the  fact  that 
he  may  truly  be  called  the  ' '  Father  of  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism." He  was  noted  long  before  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  for  his  devotion  to  catechetical  instruction. 
He  had  prepared  a  number  of  catechisms,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  was  in  its  fifth  edition  when  the  As- 
sembly convened.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Directory,  and  had  the  subject  of  catechising 
especially  assigned  to  him  by  the  committee.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Catechism  until  his 


7©  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

death,  and,  though  the  finishing  touches  to  the  Cate- 
chism were  given  after  his  death  by  Anthony  Tuckney, 
who  succeeded  him,  yet  a  comparison  of  our  present 
Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  with  the  last  edition  of 
the  Catechism  of  Mr.  Palmer  will  show  how  largely  we 
are  indebted  to  him  for  those  incomparable  summaries 
of  doctrine  which  grow  only  the  more  priceless  with  the 
lapse  of  years. 

Passing  over  for  the  present  the  Scotch  Commissioners, 
let  us  recall  one  or  two  of  the  members  of  Parliament, 
as  they  sit  over  on  the  right.  There,  facile  princeps,  is 
John  Selden,  the  "learned  Selden,"  "the  glory  of  the 
British  nation,"  as  Grotius  terms  him,  Antiquariorum 
Coryphaeus,  as  he  is  styled  upon  the  tablet  erected  to  his 
memory  at  Oxford.  He  was,  for  the  extent  of  his  eru- 
dition and  the  versatility  of  his  genius,  incomparably  the 
foremost  scholar  of  his  age.  As  a  lawyer  he  was  with- 
out a  peer  at  the  English  bar;  whilst  as  a  historian,  as  a 
theologian,  as  an  archaeologist,  a  linguist,  an  antiquary, 
he  enjoyed  a  reputation  fully  as  great.  He  was  a  recog- 
nized authority  in  civil  law,  in  canon  law,  in  rabbinical 
law,  indeed  was  master  of  all  rabbinical  lore.  His  sway 
was  equally  felt  in  philology,  in  heraldry,  and  in  all  de- 
partments of  literature.  Representing  the  University  of 
Oxford  in  the  Long  Parliament,  he  spared  time  to  attend 
the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  only  when  some  question 
was  up  for  discussion  that  specially  interested  him ;  and 
when  it  was  known  that  he  was  to  speak  every  ear  was 
attent,  his  great  eloquence  and  commanding  genius 
swaying  the  Assembly  as  the  wind  bows  the  trees  of  the 
forest. 

Not  far  from  Mr.  Selden  sits  another  member,  a  deeply- 
interested  listener,  and  often  an  earnest  participant  in  the 
debate.      I   need  only  call   the  name,   John   Pym,    and 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  71 

there  arises  before  you  the  figure  of  the  great  Puritan 
patriot,  the  matchless  leader  of  the  parliamentary  party 
in  its  struggle  for  constitutional  liberty  against  the 
tyranny  of  Charles  I.  He  was  the  one  man  who  had  the 
sagacity  to  see  that  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  the  king's  chief 
counsellor,  was,  with  his  sullen  determination,  and  his 
power  of  intrigue,  the  Richelieu  upon  whom  Charles 
leaned.  He  was  the  only  man  in  the  realm  who  had  at 
once  the  courage  to  move  the  impeachment  of  the  Earl, 
and  the  magnetic  eloquence  with  which  to  arraign  him 
at  the  bar  of  the  House  as  the  "great  promoter  of 
tyranny  in  the  realm  "  ;  and  to  carry  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing vote  the  order  which  led  the  great  leader  to  the 
scaffold,  and  gave  the  death-blow  to  schemes  of  oppres- 
sion which  only  his  resolute  courage  and  inflexible  will 
could  have  carried  to  success. 

One  more  of  these  commoners  must  receive  at  least  a 
passing  notice.  Sitting  quietly  there,  taking  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  all  the  discussions,  is  Francis  Rouse, 
author  of  the  well-known  Rouse's  Version  of  the  Psalms. 
When  he  came  into  the  Assembly  the  psalmody  in  use 
was  the  old  rugged  one  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins.  Mr. 
Rouse  had  already  prepared  a  metrical  version  of  the 
Psalms,  and,  by  request  of  the  Assembly,  revised  it  for 
use  in  its  services,  and  it  is  this  version,  afterwards 
amended  from  time  to  time,  that  is  still  in  use  amongst 
the  ' '  psalm-smging  churches ' '  of  Scotland  and  of  this 
country.  It  is  an  anomaly,  as  strange  as  it  is  interest- 
ing, that  those  rugged  old  paraphrases,  with  what  Rufus 
Choate  calls  their  ' '  uncommon  pith  and  gnarled  vigor  of 
sentiment,"  and  what  Sir  Walter  Scott  characterizes  as 
"a  rude  sort  of  majesty  which  perhaps  would  be  ill 
exchanged  for  mere  elegance ' '  ;  that  those  old  psalms 
which  were  the  heritage  of  our   Scotch  fathers  for  so 


72  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

many  generations,  and  to  the  music  of  which  the  heroic 
Covenanters  marched  to  the  battle  or  to  the  stake,  were 
composed  by  a  South-of- England  man,  who  possibly 
never  was  in  Scotland,  and  were  first  wafted  to  God 
in  song,  not  upon  the  moors  of  Scotland,  or  in  the  Grey- 
friars  or  Old  St.  Giles,  but  amidst  the  stately  columns 
and  under  the  fretted  arches  of  an  English  cathedral. 

It  would  be  interesting,  if  we  had  time,  to  sketch  the 
characters  of  a  few  at  least  of  the  English  divines,  suck 
as  John  Lightfoot,  the  world-renowned  author  of  the 
Horce  Hebraiccs  et  Talmtidiccz,  and  Thomas  Gataker,  dis- 
tinguished both  in  oriental  and  in  classical  research, 
and  Stephen  Marshall,  the  popular  preacher  and  re- 
nowned ecclesiastic,  with  his  colleagues  of  the  famous 
Smectymnuus,  all  of  whom  were  members  of  the  As- 
sembly. There  were  also  Arrowsmith  and  Tucknej^ 
professors  of  divinity  at  Cambridge ;  Hoyle,  professor  of 
divinity  at  Dublin ;  Wallis,  professor  of  geometry  at 
Oxford,  the  first  mathematician  of  his  day,  and  a  host 
of  other  men  of  note. 

We  pass,  however,  to  those  in  whom  we  are  most 
interested — the  Scotch  Commissioners.  First  amongst 
them,  indeed  the  foremost  man,  after  John  Knox,  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  is  Alexander  Henderson.  The 
providence  that  gave  him  to  the  church  as  a  leader  was 
wonderful.  About  the  year  1615  Robert  Bruce,  the  dis- 
tinguished preacher,  held  a  communion  service  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  parish  church  of  Leuchars.  That  church 
was  being  served  at  the  time  by  a  young  divine  of  the 
Established  Church,  who  had  been  imposed  upon  the 
church  by  the  bishojr  over  the  protest  of  the  congrega- 
tion. On  the  day  for  his  induction,  the  congregation, 
with  true  Scotch  tenacity,  had  locked  the  doors  of  the 
church,  so  that  when  the  bishop  and  attendant  ministers 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  73 

came  to  conduct  the  installation  they  were  unable  to 
enter,  until  the  young  minister  who  was  to  be  installed 
climbed  up  to  one  of  the  windows,  and,  breaking  his  way 
in,  succeeded  in  forcing  the  doors  so  that  the  farce  of 
installation  might  proceed.  This  young  minister,  who 
was  no  other  than  Alexander  Henderson,  having  heard 
of  the  great  fame  of  Mr.  Bruce,  and  being  curious  to 
hear  him,  attended  his  service,  seating  himself  in  a 
retired  place  where  he  supposed  his  presence  would  not 
be  observed.  When  the  assistant  minister  had  finished 
the  preliminary  service,  Mr.  Bruce  came  forward,  and 
after  a  solemn  pause,  as  was  his  custom,  uttered  most 
impressively  the  words  of  his  text,  "Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  he  that  entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the 
sheep-fold,  but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is 
a  thief  and  a  robber. ' ' 

The  words  of  the  Master,  so  singularly  appropriate 
and  so  solemnly  uttered,  were  carried  home  with  resist- 
less energy  by  the  Spirit.  The  unspiritual  nature  of  his 
whole  past  ministry  appeared  to  Mr.  Henderson  with 
appalling  distinctness.  By  God's  grace  he  came  into  a 
new  life ;  and  with  this  new  experience  came,  under 
closer  study  of  the  word,  a  conviction  of  the  divine  right 
of  Presbytery,  and  Alexander  Henderson  stepped  forth 
from  the  scholarly  retirement  to  which  he  had  devoted 
his  life  to  become  the  great  leader  in  the  sanguinary 
strife  for  Christ's  crown  and  covenant.  He  combined 
rare  gifts  as  a  leader,  and  perhaps  in  no  other  way  can 
I  better  exhibit  to  you  that  remarkable  combination  of 
endowments  which  gave  him  unparalleled  influence  in 
Scotland  than  by  depicting  a  scene  in  which  all  his  mar- 
v^ellous  powers  were  put  to  the  fullest  test.  It  was  at 
the  celebrated  General  Assembly  of  Glasgow  in  1638, 
over  which,  as  over  several    successive    assemblies    in 


74  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

those  stormy  times,  lie  was  called,  in  deference  to  his 
great  powers  as  a  leader,  to  preside.  The  avowed  pur- 
pose of  this  Assembly  being  to  abolish  episcopacy,  and 
a  number  of  bishops  having  sent  in  their  declinature  to 
recognize  the  authority  of  the  Assembly,  Charles  I.  de- 
termined to  interpose  in  their  behalf,  and  sent  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hamilton  as  his  commissioner,  with  authority 
and  instructions  to  dissolve  the  Assembly  if  it  should 
undertake  to  deal  with  the  refractory  bishops.  The  in- 
tense excitement  may  be  conceived  when  the  hour  ar- 
rived for  the  consideration  of  the  answer  of  the  bishops. 
The  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  a  distinguished  soldier,  fresh 
from  the  camp  and  in  military  dress,  occupied  a  con- 
spicuous chair  in  front,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people 
filled  the  hall.  The  answer  of  the  bishops  having  been 
read,  Mr.  Henderson,  with  that  stately  dignity  and  over- 
awing gravity  which  were  characteristic  of  him,  arose 
and  asked  if  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  Assembly  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  trial  of  the  bishops.  On  this  the  Marquis  of 
Hamilton  sprang  to  his  feet  and  declared  that  it  was  not 
in  accordance  with  the  pleasure  of  his  majesty,  King 
Charles,  that  the  relations  of  the  bishops  should  be  dis- 
turbed, and  he  was  present  in  the  king's  name  to  inter- 
dict any  proceedings  in  that  direction.  Mr.  Henderson, 
in  a  very  courteous  and  well-considered  address  to  his 
grace,  expressed  the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  to  King 
Charles  for  having  convened  them,  and  gave  assurance 
of  their  loyalty  and  their  desire  to  conform  themselves 
as  far  as  possible  in  all  things  to  the  king's  will,  but 
reminded  him  that  being  now  constituted  as  a  court  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  their  first  allegiance  was  to  him  and  his 
law,  and  then  calmly,  without  the  least  sign  of  perturba- 
tion, put  the  question  again  as  to  whether  the  Assembly 
was   ready  to   proceed  with   the   trial  of   the   bishops. 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  75 

Astonished  beyond  measure  at  what  seemed  the  audacity 
of  the  moderator,  but,  controlling  himself  as  well  as  he 
could,  the  Marquis  arose  and  declared  that  such  proceed- 
ings would  be  revolutionary,  and  if  persisted  in  would 
necessitate  his  immediate  withdrawal  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  royal  court.  With  a  manner  as  bland  as  a 
summer  day,  the  moderator  replied  to  his  grace  that  it 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  the  Assembly  to  have  his  distin- 
guished presence,  that  they  should  exceedingly  regret 
his  withdrawal,  and  trusted  he  would  consent  to  remain, 
as  nothing  treasonable  or  disloyal  was  in  any  of  their 
hearts,  and  then  resolutely  put,  the  third  time,  the  ques- 
tion, "Is  the  Assembly  ready  to  proceed  with  the  trial  of 
the  bishops?"  The  commissioner  now  sprang  to  his 
feet  in  a  towering  rage,  drew  from  his  pocket  the  written 
instructions  of  the  king,  and  declared  that  he  would 
immediately  dissolve  the  Assembly  if  another  word  were 
spoken  on  this  subject.  Above  all  the  din  of  confusion 
throughout  the  hall  the  calm,  courageous  voice  of  the 
moderator  was  heard.  Standing  in  the  high  pulpit,  far 
above  the  heads  of  the  people,  his  majestic  form  looming 
up,  and  a  light  as  from  the  throne  irradiating  every 
feature,  he  seemed  a  fitting  representative  of  the  court  of 
heaven  as  he  looked  down,  with  an  air  almost  of  patron- 
age, into  the  face  of  the  commissioner  of  an  earthly  sov- 
-ereign,and  kindly  but  firmly  told  him  that  the  Assembly 
•could  not  and  would  not,  even  upon  pain  of  the  king's 
displeasure,  prove  disloyal  to  the  King  of  kings.  Then 
came  the  supreme  moment,  when,  amidst  a  wild  turbu- 
lence that  even  the  calm  voice  and  majestic  mien  of  the 
moderator  could  but  partially  suppress,  the  Marquis  of 
Hamilton  stepped  to  the  front,  in  imperious  tones  de- 
clared, in  his  majesty's  name,  the  Assembly  dissolved, 
proceeded   to   discharge   every   member   under   highest 


76  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

pains  and  penalties  from  taking-  further  part,  and  then, 
calling  upon  every  loyal  subject  of  the  king  to  follow 
him,  stalked  down  the  aisle  and  out  of  the  door,  his 
sabre  rattling  behind  him. 

When  the  door  had  closed,  Mr.  Henderson's  wonder- 
ful self-possession  and  genius  appeared.  Calming  the 
turbulence  of  the  excited  throng  that  was  ready  to  pur- 
sue the  Marquis  with  personal  violence,  Mr.  Henderson 
commended  him  for  his  fidelity  to  his  sovereign,  and  for 
carrying  out  the  instructions  given  him  to  the  letter ; 
then,  turning,  reminded  the  Assembly  that  they  were 
commissioners  of  a  greater  King,  and  urged  them  by  the 
example  of  the  king's  servant  and  representative,  to 
obey,  even  to  the  death,  the  inspired  and  authoritative 
instructions  of  King  Jesus.  The  effect  was  magnetic ; 
the  bishops  were  brought  to  the  bar,  convicted  of  contu- 
macy, and  deposed,  Mr.  Henderson  conducting  the  cere- 
mony of  deposition  amidst  a  solemnity  and  awe  that 
would  have  befitted  the  judgment  day. 

Another  wonderful  man  is  George  Gillespie,  the 
youngest,  and  in  many  respects  the  most  remarkable 
member  of  the  body.  Born  in  1613,  in  the  little  town  of 
Kirkcaldy,  on  the  Firth  of  Forth,  the  son  of  a  humble, 
consecrated  minister,  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of 
St.  Andrews  (to  the  praise  of  beneficiary  education  be  it 
said)  as  "Presbytery's  bursar"  or  beneficiary.  Gradu- 
ating with  distinction  in  his  seventeenth  year,  he  com- 
pleted his  theological  course  just  as  the  great  struggle 
was  on  for  the  divine  right  of  Presbytery,  and  refu.sed 
Episcopal  ordination,  vowing  that  he  would  never  be 
ordained  while  the  world  stood,  except  by  a  scriptural 
presbytery.  Serving  in  obscurity  and  without  ordina- 
tion, as  the  private  chaplain  to  Lord  Cassilis,  in  that  same 
memorable  month  of  July,  1637,  when  Jennie  Geddes,  in 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  77 

the  cathedral  of  St.  Giles,  threw  her  stool  at  the  head  of 
the  Dean  of  Edinburgh  for  presuming  to  "  say  mass  at 
her  lug,"  this  unknown  youth  was  sending  through  the 
press  in  Holland,  because  it  could  not  be  published  in 
Britain,  a  work  entitled,  A  Dispute  Against  the  Eng- 
lish Popish  Cere^nonies,  Obtruded  tipon  the  Church  of 
Scotland^  a  book  which  immediately  lifted  him  into 
fame,  which  probably  did  more  even  than  the  stool  of 
Jennie  Geddes  to  overthrow  prelacy  in  Scotland,  and  to 
whose  matchless  learning  and  resistless  logic  no  answer 
was  ever  attempted  by  the  prelatists,  except  the  cheap 
one  of  commanding  every  copy  of  it  to  be  burned  at  the 
stake. 

Young  as  he  was,  Mr.  Gillespie  was  one  of  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  Assembly.  All  are  familiar  with  the 
incident  recorded  of  him,  disputed  by  some,  but  seeming 
to  have  historic  ground,  that  when  the  Committee  on 
the  Catechism  had  found  themselves  unable  to  construct 
a  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question,  "What  is  God?" 
and,  referring  it  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  that 
also  had  failed,  it  was  proposed  that  Mr.  Gillespie,  as  the 
youngest  member,  lead  in  praj^er  for  the  special  aid  of 
the  Spirit,  and  w^hen  he  had  begun  his  prayer  with  the 
words,  "O  God,  who  art  a  Spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  and 
unchangeable,  in  thy  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness, 
justice,  goodness,  and  truth,"  the  body  felt  that  their 
prayer  was  heard,  and  the  coveted  answer  sent,  and  so 
entered  that  incomparable  answer  which  can  never  be 
improved  upon  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  chief  reputation  of  Mr.  Gillespie  rests  upon  the 
marvellous  breadth  and  readiness  of  learning,  and  the 
wonderful  genius  and  power  of  debate,  which  made  him, 
young  as  he  was,  the  mainstay  of  the  Assembly  in  its 
hard  battle  with  the  forces  of  Erastianism,   led  on  by 


78  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Seidell  and  Lightfoot  and  Coleman,  intellectual  giants, 
and  supported  by  all  the  prestige  and  influence  of  the 
Parliament.  On  a  memorable  day,  when,  in  framing 
the  Book  of  Discipline,  the  subject  of  excommunication 
had  been  reached,  and  the  committee  was  ready  to  report, 
affirming  excommunication  to  be  an  exercise  of  spiritual 
function,  and  therefore  to  be  administered  by  the  church 
through  spiritual  courts,  and  not  by  the  civil  magistrate, 
Mr.  Selden  left  his  seat  in  Parliament  and  came  to  the 
Assembly  for  one  of  his  greatest  efforts.  It  was  known 
that  he  would  speak,  and  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  was 
thronged ;  the  lords  in  their  chairs,  every  Qiember  in  his 
form,  and  all  spectators  who  could  procure  a  "writ  of 
invytment ' '  from  Parliament  (for  none  could  enter, 
"either  to  see  or  to  heare,  lett  be  to  sitt,"  without  writ- 
ten permission)  were  occupying  the  extra  seats.  The 
passage  of  Scripture  under  consideration,  as  supporting 
the  spirituality  of  excommunication  was  that  in  Mat- 
thew xviii.  15-17,  "Moreover,  if  thy  brother  shall  tres- 
pass against  thee,"  etc.  As  Mr.  Byefield  read  the  pas- 
sage, every  eye  was  fixed  upon  Mr.  Selden,  who  arose 
with  the  dignity  and  affability  that  were  natural  to  him, 
and  proceeded  to  argue  that  excommunication  was  a 
purely  civil  penalty  amongst  the  Jews,  that  the  word 
translated  church  in  the  original  Hebrew  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, referred  to  a  civil,  not  to  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal ; 
and  then,  with  a  little  jocular  reference  to  the  men  who 
"carried  their  little  gilt-edged  English  Bibles  in  their 
pockets,  and  were  always  quoting  from  them,"  he  be- 
gan to  quote,  with  a  fluency  and  copiousness  that  seemed 
amazing,  from  the  original  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, from  the  Chaldee  Targums,  from  the  rabbinical  He- 
brew of  the  Mishna,  and  the  Gemara,  from  Josephus 
and  Philo,  from  orientalists  and  scholars,  until  his  oppo- 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  79 

nents  and  their  cause  seemed  hopelessly  buried  under 
the  mass  of  Hebraic  and  Talmudic  literature  with  which 
he  had  overwhelmed  them. 

At  the  close  of  his  most  subtle  and  powerful  argu- 
ment the  Assembly  seemed  dazed.  Herle  and  Marshall 
made  attempt  to  reply,  but  failed  to  make  any  impres- 
sion. It  looked  as  if  the  cause  of  spiritual  independency 
was  lost,  when  Samuel  Rutherford  turned  to  Gillespie, 
and  said,  with  intense  earnestness:  "Rise,  George,  rise 
up,  man,  and  defend  the  right  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to 
govern,  by  his  own  laws,  the  church  he  has  purchased 
with  his  blood."  Under  this  strong  appeal  the  young 
man  arose,  and  without  a  note  before  him  proceeded  to 
analyze  the  speech  of  his  learned  opponent,  stripping,  the 
argument  of  all  the  vast  rubbish  of  learning  in  which  it 
was  encased,  exhibiting  its  inherent  weakness ;  and  then, 
in  a  masterly  exegesis  of  the  passage,  showed  by  seven 
distinct  lines  of  argument,  that  the  excommunication  re- 
ferred to  was  spiritual.  The  offence,  a  trespass,  was 
spiritual ;  the  offended  stood  in  spiritual  relation  as  a 
brother;  the  end  aimed  at  was  spiritual,  to  gain  him; 
the  method  of  procedure  was  spiritual,  telling  it  to  him 
alone;  the  court,  a  spiritual  court ;  the  censure,  a  spirit- 
ual censure ;  the  effect,  exclusion  from  spiritual  interest 
and  privilege.  With  such  acuteness,  fervor,  sincerity 
and  eloquence  did  he  argue,  that  before  he  had  gone  far 
he  was  producing  a  profounder  impression  even  than 
that  of  Selden ;  and  when  he  concluded,  not  only  had  he 
carried  the  Assembly  with  him,  but  Selden  himself  is 
said  to  have  exclaimed,  with  mingled  admiration  and  cha- 
grin, "That  young  man  has,  by  a  single  speech,  swept 
away  the  learning  and  labor  of  ten  years  of  my  life. ' ' 

Time  will  permit  me  to  allude  to  but  one  man  more, 
and  I  refer  to  him  simply  as  illustrating  the  marvellous 


8o  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

versatility  of  character  and  gift  of  these  men.  Who  has 
not  heard  of  Samuel  Rutherford?  Who  that  has  read 
his  almost  inimitable  "  Letters"  has  not  come  to  think  of 
him  as  some  sweet,  saintly  soul,  like  St.  Bernard  or 
Thomas  A'Kempis,  wrapt  in  quiet  contemplation  of  the 
Master,  or  absorbed  in  pleading  at  the  throne  for  the 
souls  of  men.  Who  thinks  of  him  as  a  scholar  of  such 
repute  throughout  all  Europe  that  he  is  time  and  again 
called  to  chairs  of  divinity  in  the  leading  universities  on 
the  continent  ?  Or  who  thinks  of  him  aS  one  of  the  war- 
horses  of  his  day  ?  Let  a  single  Scene,  by  way  of  illus- 
tration, suffice.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  sweet 
hymn  of  Mrs.  Annie  Cousins,  in  which  she  has  so  ex- 
quisitely paraphrased  the  words  of  Rutherford  on  his 
death-bed.  We  love  to  think  of  the  sweet,  saintly  man 
as  his  seraphic  piety  breathes  in  these  words : 

"  Oh  !   Christ,  he  is  the  fountain, 

The  d  eep,  sweet  well  of  love ; 
The  streams  on  earth  I've  tasted, 

I'll  drink  more  deep  above. 
There  to  an  ocean  fullness 

His  mercy  doth  expand, 
And  glory,  glory  dwelleth 

In  Immanuel's  land." 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  it  was  while  on  the  same 
death-bed,  and  only  a  short  time  before,  that  a  message 
came  from  Charles  II.  summoning  him  to  appear  before 
the  next  Parliament  on  the  charge  of  high  treason. 
Lifting  himself  from  his  couch,  and  pointing  with  hi.'i 
bony  finger,  he  said  to  the  messenger,  "Go,  tell  your 
royal  master  that  it  behooveth  me  to  appear  before  a 
higher  judge  and  judicatory  than  his,  and  ere  a  few  days 
arrive  I  shall  be  where  few  kings  or  great  men  ever 
come." 

I  have  drawn  deeply,  almost  inexcusably,  upon  your 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  8i 

patience  ;  let  me,  in  conclusion,  dwell  for  a  moment  upon 
the  character  of  the  Assembly  as  a  body.  It  has  met 
with  very  varied  estimate.  Lord  Clarendon,  in  his  self- 
styled  History  of  the  Rebellion,  has  given  to  the  whole 
history  and  work  of  the  Assembly  but  a  single  paragraph, 
and  that  as  contemptuous  as  language  could  make  it; 
but  this  paragraph  was  written  after  he  had  sought  in 
vain  to  bend  the  Assembly  to  his  will.  Milton,  in  a 
grim  play  of  humor  in  his  Paradise  Lost,  has  evidently 
made  the  sitting  of  the  Assembly  the  basis  of  one  of  his 
pictures  of  the  infernal  world,  as,  speaking  of  the  em- 
ployments of  the  fallen  angels,  he  says  : 

"Others,  apart,  sat  on  a  hill  retired, 
In  thought  more  elevate,  and  reasoned  high 
Of  Providence,  foreknowledge,  will  and  fate ; 
Fixed  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge  absolute ; 

And  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

But  Milton  wrote  this  and  all  his  criticisms  after  the 
Assembly  had  condemned  his  work,  The  Doctri?ie  and 
Discipli7ie  of  Divorce,  which  he  had  dedicated  to  that 
body  with  words  of  very  highest  praise. 

The  satirists  and  punsters  of  the  da^^  found  in  the 
Assembly,  of  course,  a  tempting  subject  for  their  jests 
and  jibes : 

"Pretty  Synod  doth  it  sit, 
Voyd  of  grace,  as  well  of  wit, 

And  make  no  canons; 
But  such  as  ordinance  are  called, 
Which  have  the  very  souls  enthralled 

Of  every  man  on  's. 

"Now  from  black  Tom  and  blacker  Noll, 
That  kill  and  flay  without  control, 

Thereby  to  end  us ; 
Prom  Synod's  nonsense  and  their  treason, 
And  from  their  catechistic  reason. 
Good  heaven,  defend  us!  " 
6 


82  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

But  in  the  face  of  all  prejudice  and  calumny,  as  the 
years  move  on,  men  will  come  more  and  more  to  the 
judgment  of  a  contemporary,  Richard  Baxter,  who  had 
reason  to  be  impartial,  when  he  says  :  "The divines  there 
congregated  were  men  of  eminent  learning  and  godli- 
ness and  ministerial  abilities  and  fidelity ;  and,  being  not 
worthy  to  be  one  of  them  myself,  I  may  the  more  freely 
speak  that  truth  which  I  know,  even  in  the  face  of  malice 
and  envy,  that  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge  by  the  infor- 
mation of  all  history  of  that  kind,  and  by  any  other  evi- 
dence left  us,  the  Christian  world  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles  had  never  a  synod  of  more  excellent  divines 
(taking  one  thing  with  another)  than  this  Synod  and  the 
Synod  of  Dort." 

There  are  two  things,  which,  in  addition  to  their 
learning,  genius,  and  intrepid  courage,  must  ever  com- 
mend them  to  our  admiration.  The  first  is  their  rever- 
ence for  Scripture.  Not  only  did  they  give  it  "the  first 
place,  the  place  of  honor,"  in  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
but  a  cardinal  rule  of  the  Assembly  was  that,  "What 
any  man  undertakes  to  prove  as  necessarj"-,  he  shall 
make  good  out  of  Scripture,"  and  an  examination  of  the 
published  proceedings  will  show  that  the  authority  of 
Scripture  as  the  inspired  and  infallible  word  of  God  was 
in  every  case  bowed  to  with  reverence  and  submission 
as  the  arbiter  of  all  controversy  and  the  basis  of  all  be- 
lief. 

The  second  characteristic  is  the  sense  of  humble  de- 
pendence on  God,  as  seen  in  the  prominence  given  to 
prayer.  Not  only  were  the  daily  sessions  opened  and 
closed  with  prayer,  and  often  interspersed  with  prayer  for 
specific  objects,  but  once  a  month  all  business  was  regu- 
larly suspended,  that  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  might 
be  observed  in  concert  with  the  two  houses  of  Parlia- 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  83 

ment.  And  what  days  they  were !  We  read,  for  in- 
stance, in  Lightfoot's  Journal,  that  on  Frida)^,  October 
13,  1643,  the  order  is  taken  for  the  fast  on  the  follow- 
ing Monday  in  these  words :  "The  time  to  be  from  nine 
to  four ;  the  exercises  to  be  the  word  and  prayer,  three 
to  pra}^  and  two  to  preach.  Dr.  Burgess,  Mr.  Goodwin, 
and  Dr.  Stanton  to  pray,  and  Mr.  Palmer  and  Mr. 
Whittacre  to  preach." 

And  then  on  the  following  Monday  we  have  this  re- 
cord: "Monday,  October  i6th.  This" day  we  kept  a 
solemn  fast  in  the  place  where  our  sitting  is,  and  no  one 
with  us  but  ourselves,  the  Scotch  Commissioners,  and 
some  Parliament  men.  First,  Mr.  Wilson  gave  a  picked 
psalm,  or  selected  verses  of  several  psalms,  agreeing  to 
the  time  and  occasion.  Then  Dr.  Burgess  prayed  about 
an  hour;  after  he  had  done,  Mr.  Whittacre  preached 
upon  Isaiah  xxxvii.  3  :  '  This  day  is  a  day  of  trouble,' 
etc.  Then,  having  had  another  chosen  psalm,  Mr. 
Goodwin  prayed;  and,  after  he  had  done,  Mr.  Palmer 
preached  upon  Psalm  xxv.  12.  After  this  sermon  we 
had  another  psalm  and  Dr.  Stanton  prayed  about  an  hour, 
and  with  another  psalm  and  a  prayer  of  the  Prolocutor, 
and  a  collection  for  the  maimed  soldiers,  which  arose  to 
about  ^■3,  15s.,  we  adjourned  until  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." 

It  seems  almost  incredible  to  us  that  men  should  have 
remained  continuously  in  devotional  worship  from  9  A.  M. 
to  4  p.  M.,  and  that,  as  Dr.  Baillie  tells  us,  a  single 
prayer  was  sometimes  two  hours  long;  but  in  those 
times,  when  all  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
seemed  to  be  in  peril,  men  felt  their  dependence  on  God, 
and  when  once  at  the  throne  of  grace  knew  not  how  to 
come  away  until  the  blessing  was  obtained. 

Rugged  men  in  sooth  they  were,  but  the  times  were 


84  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

rugged,  and  the  characters  of  the  men  were  suited  to  the 
times  in  which  thej'  Hved.  Go  around  upon  the  wind- 
ward side  of  one  of  our  sea-girt  islands,  where  the  storm 
breaks  in  its  wildest  fury,  and  the  waves  roll  in  mountain 
high.  Look  at  those  tall  cliffs  that  rise  perpendicularly 
out  of  the  sea,  as  if  they  had  advanced  to  meet  it  in  its  tem- 
pestuous rage.  God's  great  breakwaters  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  sunny  isle  behind  them,  they  bare  their  breasts 
by  day  and  night  to  the  storm,  and  hurl  back  waves  that 
toss  the  mightiest  ships  like  straws  upon  their  bosom. 
You  do  not  expect  to  find  on  the  face  of  these  cliffs  the 
fair  verdure,  the  delicate  flowers,  or  the  softened  out- 
lines of  the  hills  over  on  the  leeward  slope.  The  only 
lines  of  architecture  you  expect  to  find  on  these  granite 
cliffs  are  the  rude  ones  cut  by  the  chisels  of  the  tempest  ; 
but  as  you  look  up  to  them  and  think  of  the  mighty 
forces  of  night  and  storm  with  which  they  have  con- 
tended, and  the  steadfastness  with  which  they  have  re- 
pelled every  invading  foe  they  seem  to  you  all  the  more 
glorious,  and  fill  your  soul  with  all  the  more  reverence, 
because  of  their  rugged  simplicit}^  God's  great  bastions 
against  the  encroaching  sea. 

And  so,  as  we  contemplate  the  lives  and  characters  of 
these  illustrious  men,  whose  lot  was  Cast  in  the  midst  of 
the  storms  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  revolution,  who 
heroically  bared  their  breast  to  the  tempest,  receiving  in 
full  shock,  and  hurling  back  in  defiance  the  waves  of 
despotic  absolutism  in  the  state,  and  hierarchical  oppres- 
sion in  the  church,  their  majestic  forms  loom  up  before 
us  in  the  thick  of  the  conflict  for  the  defence  of  the  civil 
and  religious  liberties  which  we  enjoy,  and  there  is  a 
majesty  and  a  sublimity  in  the  rugged  grandeur  of  their 
natures  that  overawe  us.  We  uncover  our  heads  with 
reverence  before  them,  and  our  souls  thrill  with  emotions 


Place,  Proceedings,  and  Personnel.  85 

of  gratitude,  admiration,  and  love,  as  we  remember  that 
it  was  because  they  stood  breast-deep  amidst  the  waves, 
and  maintained  their  position,  inflexible  and  unawed, 
under  all  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  that  we  are  to-day  in 
the  midst  of  a  Presbyterianism,  which  under  the  soft  sun- 
light of  God's  truth,  covers  all  its  fair  fields  with  ver- 
dure, bids  the  fragile  fern  unfold  upon  the  barren  cliffs 
its  graceful  fronds,  and  fills  the  world  with  the  delicate 
aroma  of  its  flowers. 


RKV.  R.  1..  i)ai;m:n  ,  u.  d..  ll.  u. 


IV. 


THE  DOCTRINAL  CONTENTS  OF  THE  CONFES- 
SION—ITS FUNDAMENTAL  AND  REGULATIVE 
IDEAS,  AND  THE  NECESSITY  AND  VALUE 
OF  CREEDS. 

BY 

Rev.   ROBERT  L.   DABNEY,   D.   D.,   LL    D., 

OF    VICTORIA,    TEXAS, 

FOR  MANY  YEARS    PROFESSOR   IN   UNION    THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

VIRGINIA. 


87 


ANALYSIS. 
I.  The  Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession. 

Its  system  Calvinistic— Pauline.— Two  regulative  ideas. — 
God's  purposes  revealed  in  Scripture.— The  nature  and  attributes 
of  God. — Catechism. — First  question. — The  fourth  question. — 
Covenant  of  works. — Of  grace. — In  harmony  with  nature  and 
end  of  God. — Confession  theocentric  at  root. — In  a  relative  way, 
anthropocentric  and  Christocentric. — Hence  Trinity  and  attri- 
butes prominent.— Moral  attributes.— The  redemption  of  Christ 
must  agree  with  the  conditions. — Archibald  Alexander  quoted. — 
Westminster  divines  fitted  for  their  work. — The  Confession  has 
two  marked  features. — It  is  scriptural. — It  is  moderate. — The 
framers  of  the  Confession  knew  philosophy  and  theology. — Yet 
left  metaphysics  out. — Built  the  Confession  on  Scripture. — The 
debates  were  settled  by  the  word.— False  philosophy  indirectly 
refuted. — Even  the  patristic  authority  put  below  that  of  the 
Scriptures. — The  propositions  of  Confession  are  biblical. — Hence 
of  permanent  value. — Need  no  revision. — Confession  moderate. — 
A  system. — Parts  related. — An  arch.— An  organism. — Holds 
Trinity. — Is  neither  supra  nor  sublapsarian. — Teaches  God's 
providence. — Sets  forth  original  sin. — Asserts  imputation. — An 
nounces  the  penal  and  subr-titutionary  nature  of  Christ's  work. — 
Speaks  of  assurance. — Alludes  to  the  millennium. — But  extremes 
of  statement  are  carefully  avoided. — Prudent  moderation, — No 
narrowness. 

II.  The  Necessity  and  Value  of  Creeds. 

A  creed  defined. — Illustrated.^ — Its  conditions. — Relation  to 
Bible. — Holy  Scripture  the  final  and  infallible  creed. — The 
Standards  must  express  the  contents  of  Scripture. — Subscription 
to  our  Standards  only  by  officers. — Not  by  members. — No  perse- 
cution for  opinion's  sake. — No  expulsion  from  the  universal 
church. — Admits  recognition  of  other  denominations. — Commi:- 
nion  of  saints. — Objections  to  creeds. — Christ  gave  no  command 
to  set  up  human  standards.— Creeds  assume  that  the  Bible  is 
lacking  in  some  important  respect. — These  two  sets  of  objections 
fully  answered. — Visible  church  needs  a  creed. — Versions  of 
Scriptures  same. — Creeds  useful  for  instruction. — Valuable  as  a 
witness  for  true  doctrine  and  holy  practice. — Creeds  serve  to 
interpret  clearly  the  Scriptures. — Are  useful  for  instruction. — 
Cases  quoted. — Argued. — Actual  creed  always. — Better  to  have 
it  written  than  not. — Creeds  are  plain,  honest  statements  to 
others  of  our  doctrines. — They  serve  as  a  bond  of  union  and  co- 
operation.— Our  Confession  one  of  the  very  best  for  these  im- 
portant purposes. — So  commended. 


88 


IV. 

THE  DOCTRINAL  CONTENTS  OF  THE  CONFES- 
SION :  ITS  FUNDAMENTAL  AND  REGULATIVE 
IDEAS,  AND  THE  NECESSITY  AND  VALUE  OF 
CREEDS.  

FIRST  there  is  assigned  to  me  the  consideration  of  the 
doctrinal  contents  of  the  Confession,  with  its  funda- 
mental and  regulative  ideas.  Should  I  attempt  an  ex- 
amination of  these  heads  of  doctrine  in  the  limited  time 
allowed  for  these  addresses,  the  result  could  be  little 
more  than  a  table  of  contents,  dry  and  uninstructive  to 
educated  Christians.  The  Shorter  Catechism  already 
gives  us  such  a  summary  of  most  of  the  heads  treated 
in  the  Confession,  and  superior  to  anything  which  one 
man  could  now  produce.  All  admit  that  the  Confession 
embodies  that  system  of  revealed  theology  sometimes 
termed  the  Pauline,  sometimes  the  Augustinian,  and 
popularly  the  Calvinistic.  Should  we  question  preva- 
lent public  opinion  as  to  the  peculiar  and  dominant  fea- 
tures of  that  system,  it  would  point  us  to  what  are 
popularly  termed  the  five  points  of  Calvinism.  But 
these  propositions  are  themselves  consequences  or  con- 
clusions drawn  from  more  ultimate  principles.  It  is 
among  these,  then,  that  the  fundamental  and  regu- 
lative ideas  of  the  Confession  are  to  be  sought.  These 
I  conceive  to  be  two  :  the  supreme  end  of  God's  dispen- 
sations revealed  in  Scripture,  and  the  constitution  and 
attributes  of  the  Godhead. 

The  first  principle  is  settled  for  us  in  the  first  question 


90  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

of  the  Catechism.  If  "man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify 
God 'and  enjoy  him  forever,"  then  God's  chief  end  in 
cre'tin-T;  and  governing  him  must  correspond;  it  must 
be  the  promotion  of  God's  own  glory  in  the  holiness, 
service,  and  blessedness  of  his  rational  creatures.  And 
the  same  conclusion  must  follow,  from  the  definition  of 
God,  as  a  Spirit,  eternal  and  unchangeable  in  all  his  per 
fections.  He  who  is  before  all  other  things,  who  is  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  the  absolute  owner  of  all  things, 
the  sustainer  of  all  being,  must  have  found  his  intended 
end  in  himself  alone;  and  being  unchangeable,  his 
supreme  thought  and  purpose  must  ever  remain  what 
they  were  from  eternity.  But  as  the  end  must  shape 
the  means,  it  is  thus  made  certain  a  priori  that  every 
procedure  of  God  in  providence  and  redemption  will  be 
shaped  with  contiolling  reference  to  its  tendency  to  pro- 
mote his  glory.  The  covenant  of  works,  the  preceptive 
and  penal  law,  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  method  of 
man's  justification  and  sanctification,  the  agent  and  in- 
strument therefor,  with  all  God's  temporal  nd  final 
judgments  upon  men  and  angels,  must  be  so  selected  as 
best  to  correspond  with  the  divine  perfections. 

It  has  been  debated  among  theologians  whether  the 
controlling  point  of  view  for  the  science  of  redemption  is 
anthropocentric,  Christocentric,  or  theocentric.  Those 
who  assert  the  first  point  of  view  seem  to  rest  upon  the 
maxim  that  the  nature  of  the  disease  determines  the  na- 
ture of  the  remedy.  This  is  the  plan  upon  which  Principal 
Hill  constructed  his  excellent  book  upon  divinity.  The 
covenant  of  grace  is  God's  remedy  for  man's  breach  of 
the  covenant  of  works.  Therefore  the  moral  and  legal 
state  into  which  man  reduced  himself  by  his  fall  must 
dictate  the  nature  of  the  gospel  remedy.  When  the  doc- 
trine of  original  sin  is  settled,  it  must  logically  determine 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.       91 

our  views  of  the  gospel.  The  history  of  doctrine  teaches 
us  that  there  is  a  profound,  though  not  ultimate,  truth 
in  this  proposition.  If  the  Pauline  view  of  man'^  d-iath 
in  sin  and  condemnation  is  held,  then  the  Pauline  view 
of  sovereign,  supernatual  regeneration  will  be  adopted. 
If  the  Pelagian  view  of  man's  state  since  the  fall  is  held, 
the  Pelagian  scheme  of  redemption  will  follow.  Enfee- 
bled conceptions  of  the  ofl&ce  work  of  the  Son  and  the 
Spirit,  in  and  for  man,  will  naturally  introduce  lower  con- 
ceptions of  the  persons  and  nature  of  these  gospel  agents, 
until  the  fatal  logical  stress  brings  the  theology  down  to 
mere  Socinianism.  All  this  is  true,  and  it  is  most  in- 
structive. But  it  is  not  the  ultimate  truth  of  revelation. 
The  prior  question  lies  behind  it :  why  must  man  needs 
be  redeemed  when  fallen?  As  to  the  sinning  angels,  no 
such  "needs  be"  opera  tea.  It  does  not  seem  that  the 
Westminster  Assembly  adopted  the  authropocentric  as 
their  dominant  point  of  view. 

As  to  the  second  scheme,  the  Messiah  is  unquestion- 
ably the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  our  salvation,  "the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life,"  without  whom  no  man  can 
come  to  God,  our  prophet,  priest,  and  king,  in  whom  our 
redemption  is  complete,  because  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  dwelleth  in  him  bodily,  and  he  is  "the  head  of 
all  principality  and  power."  He  is  also  the  revealer  to 
men  of  the  invisible  God,  so  that  no  man  knoweth  the 
Father  except  as  he  knoweth  the  Son.  But  these  truths 
are  not  to  be  so  pressed  as  to  exclude  from  our  view  the 
parts  of  the  Father  and  the  Spirit  in  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion. And  this  work,  while  all-important  to  us  sinners, 
and  while  the  crown  and  glory  of  all  God's  other  works, 
is  not  the  whole  of  his  providence  towards  his  creatures. 

The  ruling  point  of  view,  therefore,  assumed  by  the 
Westminster  divines  is  the  theocentric.     It  is  the  con- 


92  The  \Vest.a[instp:r  Assk.aibly. 

stitution  of  the  Godhead  as  a  trinity  in  unity,  and  the 
august  circle  of  the  divine  attributes  which  regulate 
everything  in  their  system  of  revealed  theology.  And 
hence  again  it  results,  that  every  head  in  their  system  of 
doctrine  must  converge  to  God's  glory  as  its  ultimate 
end.  Why  must  the  law  be  for  reasonable  creatures  a 
rule  of  perfect  righteousness?  Because  God  is  perfectly 
righteous.  Why  must  he  who  breaks  it  be  inexorably 
condemned?  Because  God  is  unchangeably  just.  Wh}^ 
are  sinners,  so  justly  condemned,  redeemed  at  such  cost? 
Because  God's  love  and  mercy  are  infinite.'  Why  must 
violated  law  be  completely  satisfied  before  this  infinite 
mercy  can  flow  forth  to  the  miserable?  Because  God's 
retributive  justice  is  essential  and  immutable.  How 
comes  it  that  a  daysman  can  be  found  who  has  "a  right 
to  lay  down  his  life  for  sinners,  and  take  it  again  ' '  ?  Be- 
cause Messiah  is  as  truly  Son  of  God  as  Son  of  man. 
Why  must  sanctification  invariably  follow  justification? 
Because  God  is  holy.  How  can  man,  dead  in  sin,  live 
again  unto  God?  Because  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  quick- 
ener,  is  an  almighty  agent.  Such  are  a  few  of  the  in- 
stances which  display  the  method  which  has  regulated 
the  construction  of  revealed  theology  in  our  Confession. 
Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  once  made  this  statement : 
that  the  Reformed  Protestant  theology  reached  its  zenith 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  The  Westminster  Assembly 
was  convened  near  the  middle  of  that  age,  and  in  the 
midday  light  of  its  learning  and  genius.  Had  we  no 
histories  of  its  members,  and  no  record  of  its  discussions, 
the  contents  of  the  Confession  itself  are  enough  to  teach 
us  that  those  profound  and  illustrious  scholars  were  en- 
riched with  all  the  .stores  of  sacred  learning  gathered 
from  previous  ages,  and  culminating  in  their  glorious 
epoch.     They  knew  the  past  history  of  the  church,  and 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.        93 

of  doctrine,  and  of  philosophy,  and  had  before  them  all 
the  great  symbols  of  the  previous  ages,  from  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nice  to  the  Synod  of  Dort.  Providence  thus  quali- 
fied them  for  their  important  task  to  the  most  eminent 
degree,  and  set  them  in  that  historic  epoch  most  favor- 
able to  success.  In  speaking  of  their  work,  I  propose  to 
signalize  in  the  remainder  of  this  address  two  of  its  re- 
markable traits.  One  I  may  describe  as  its  scriptural- 
ness,  the  other  as  its  moderation. 

It  is  impossible  to  question  the  full  acquaintance  of 
the  Westminster  divines  with  the  history  of  doctrine  and 
philosophy.  We  find  the  treatises  of  the  Middle  Ages 
colored  and  almost  shaped  by  the  Peripatetic  philosophy. 
Their  authors  justified  this  result  by  pointing  to  the  inti- 
mate, and,  as  the}'  claim,  unavoidable  connections  of 
philosophy  with  theolog3^  Our  divines  knew  all  this 
perfectly  well.  They  knew  the  tenor  of  the  Platonic, 
the  Aristotelian,  the  Sophistic,  the  Stoic,  the  Academic 
philosophies  of  the  ancients.  The}'  understood  the  con- 
tests of  Scotists  and  Thomists,  of  Realists  and  Normal- 
ists.  Bacon  had  written  a  few  years  before,  and  the 
debates  between  Gassendi  and  Des  Cartes  were  then  agi- 
tating the  scholars  of  the  continent.  The  new  physics 
and  astronomy  of  Copernicus  and  Galileo  were  eagerly 
supplanting  the  scholastic,  so  that  Rome  supposed  her 
theology  was  invaded,  and  was  in  need  of  the  thunders 
of  the  church  for  its  defence.  And  even  a  Turrettin,  a 
generation  later  than  our  Assembly,  deemed  it  necessary 
for  the  integrit}^  of  Scripture  to  contest  the  heliocentric 
theory  of  the  universe.  But  the  Westminster  divines 
more  wisely  left  this  physical  debate  alone,  and  in  their 
whole  system  of  doctrine  not  even  a  tinge  of  any  human 
philosoph}^  is  apparent.  Of  course,  since  human  philoso- 
phy had  been  so  audacious  as  to  attempt  the  decision  of 


94  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

everything,  secular  and  divine,  sacred  truths  mooted  by 
it  had  to  be  settled  by  the  Assembly ;  but  the)''  are  de- 
termined never  on  dialectical,  but  always  and  exclusively 
upon  biblical  grounds.  For  instance,  the  Assembly  was 
bound  to  contradict  the  materialism  of  Gassendi  and 
Hobbs,  by  asserting  that  the  soul  of  man  has  a  distinct 
and  immortal  subsistence.  The  Bible  doctrine  of  origi- 
nal sin  and  effectual  calling  must  conflict  with  Scotism 
and  Pelagianism  by  teaching  the  determination  of  man's 
fallen  will  to  ungodliness.  But  the  Assem^bly  relies 
upon  Holy  Scripture,  not  upon  metaphysics,  to  support 
its  positions.  Nor  does  it  borrow  for  the  moulding  of 
its  system  the  .shape  of  any  human  school  of  theology. 
It  is  acquainted  with  all;  it  is  subservient  to  none. 
When  defining  the  hypostatic  union  in  the  Messiah,  it 
translated  into  English  the  material  part  of  the  very 
v/ords  of  the  creed  of  Chalcedon.  Yet  it  chooses  these 
very  terms,  not  on  the  authority  of  an  Athanasius,  a 
Basil,  an  Augustine,  an  Anselm,  a  Luther,  a  Calvin,  or 
an  Owen,  but  because  they  express  the  mind  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  Scripture.  So  thorough  and  exclusive  is  this 
biblical  trait  of  their  propositions,  that  one  might  sup- 
pose they  had  bound  themselves  by  the  same  prelimi- 
nary rule  which  had  been  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
when  it  forbade  its  members  to  argue  from  anj^  human 
philosophy  or  ecclesiastical  authority.  And  herein  ap- 
pears the  wisdom  of  this  Assembly.  Church  synods  have 
ever  erred,  and  may  alwa3^s  err.     Human  philosophies 

^  are  ever  changing ;  consequently  a  sj^stem  wdiich  builds 
itself  upon  these  supports  must  soon  appear  to  totter, 
and  to  require  amendment  or  reconstruction.     "  But  the 

f  word  of  God  liveth  and  abideth  forever;"  the  structure 
which  is  built  exclusively  upon  this  is,  like  it,  perma- 
nent.    In  this  we  find  the  chief  glory  and  value  of  our 


DocTRixAL  Contents  of  the  Confession.       95 

Standards.  It  is  for  this  reason  they  remain  as  well 
adapted  to  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  as  to  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  to  America  as  to  Britain,  to  a  popular 
as  well  as  to  a  regal  commonwealth.  It  is  for  this  rea- 
son that  the  Confession  will  need  no  amendment  until 
the  Bible  needs  to  be  amended. 

The  second  marked  trait  of  the  Confession,  its  doc- 
trinal moderation,  presents  the  other  reason  for  its  per- 
manent adaptation.  Divines  so  learned  and  able  as  those 
of  the  Westminster  Assembly  knew  well*  that  the  body 
of  doctrine  which  they  taught  is  a  system  of  truth.  That 
is  to  say,  the  several  parts  must  stand  together,  in  order 
that  the  body  may  have  stability.  They  are  logically 
inter-dependent.  The  sj^stem  is  an  arch,  whose  strength 
is  perfect  as  long  as  each  stone  holds  its  proper  place; 
but  the  removal  of  any  one  loosens  all  the  rest  and  en- 
dangers the  fall  of  the  whole.  Or,  to  use  another  simili- 
tude, our  creed  is  like  an  organized  living  body  in  this, 
that  the  presence  and  healthy  action  of  each  part  is 
essential  to  the  safety  of  the  body. 

The  Assem^bly,  therefore,  was  too  wise  to  attempt  the 
conciliating  of  opposites  by  the  surrender  of  any  essen- 
tial member  of  the  system  of  revealed  truth.  They  pre- 
sent us  the  Pauline,  Augustinian,  or  Calvinistic  creed  in 
its  integrity.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  avoid  every 
excess,  ana  every  extreme  statement.  They  refrained, 
with  a  wise  moderation,  from  committing  the  church  of 
God  on  either  side  of  those  ' '  isms ' '  which  agitated  and 
perplexed  the  professors  of  the  Reformed  theology^  Let 
the  following  instances  be  considered. 

The  Confession  firmly  asserts  the  doctrine  of  a  trinity 
in  the  Godhead,  substantially  as  it  had  been  taught  in 
the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  creeds.  It  teaches  that  while 
God  is  one  infinite,  single,  spiritual  substance,  there  have 


96  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

been  from  eternity  tliree  modes  of  subsistence,  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  whose  distinctions  are  real,  perma- 
nent and  personal.  It  avows  that  this  is  a  divine  fact, 
presenting  a  mystery,  insoluble  for  man's  limited  mind; 
and  it  attempts  no  solution.  It  contents  itself  with 
proving  the  august  fact  simply  by  God's  testimony. 
Now,  they  well  knew  that  there  were  attempted  rationales 
current  throughout  the  patristic,  mediaeval  and  Reforma- 
tion ages,  upon  which  many  theologians  had  labored, 
and  with  which  the  grandest  human  intellects,  as  that  of 
Aquinas,  had  supposed  themselves  satisfied.  Taking 
the  contents  of  the  human  consciousness  as  their  pat- 
tern, they  theorized  that  the  infinite  intelligence  must 
have  eternally  and  necessarily  evolved  the  word  from 
itself  in  the  very  exercise  of  its  function  of  thought ;  and 
the  Spirit,  or  practical  subsistence,  from  the  continuous 
exercise  of  its  functions  of  appetenc}^  and  will.  They 
said  that  the  unitary  Godhead  is  actus  piirus :  its  essen- 
tial functions, of  thought,  emotion,  and  free  choice  are 
identical  with  and  constitute  its  substance.  Hence,  its 
subsistence  in  the  trinitarian  mode,  said  they,  is  obvious, 
natural  and  necessary.  The  Father  is  the  eternal  power 
of  thought  and  choice.  The  Son  or  Word  is  but  the 
eternal,  continuous  stream  of  thought-activity  which  the 
central  power  forever  and  necessarily  emits,  and  the  Spirit 
is  the  active  emotion  and  free  choice  which  the  infinite 
thought  cannot  but  evoke,  as  it  is  objectified  in  the 
divine  consciousness.  Now,  does  this  metaphysic  give 
us  objects  which  satisfy  the  meaning  of  Scripture,  where 
it  te-stifies  to  us  that  the  three  sub.sistencies,  while  each 
divine,  are  distinct  and  personal?  Or  does  it  give  us 
mere  ab.stractions  in  the  place  of  persons?  Does  this 
theory,  or  does  it  not,  destroy  the  fundamental  distinction 
of  the  reason  between  substance  and  its  powers?     Is  it 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.       97 

not  virtually  that  Heraclitic  idealism  revived  in  our  age 
by  Hegel?  Does  not  the  theory  involve  the  monstrous 
assumption  that  to  think  is  to  create,  so  that  God  gives 
to  the  second  and  third  persons,  as  well  as  to  his  created 
works,  no  other  substantive  entity  than  that  which  a 
human  mind  gives  to  its  ideas  by  thinking  them  ?  And 
does  not  all  this  set  us  on  the  high  road  to  pantheism  ? 
The  Assembly  knew  that  popes  and  archbishops  had 
sanctioned  this  attempted  rationale  oi  the  Trinity  (as  they 
continue  to  do  to  our  age).  But  the  Assembly  says  not 
one  word  about  it ;  it  passes  it  all  by  in  dead  silence, 
neither  approving  it  nor  deigning  to  refute  it.  Why? 
Because  it  is  wholly  extra-scriptural.  Were  it  of  true 
value,  the  Assembly  would  have  done  the  same,  because 
its  mission  did  not  lead  it  a  single  step  beyond  God's 
word. 

The  issue  between  the  supra  and  sublapsarian  theories 
of  the  decree  had  been  fully  joined  and  debated  before 
the  days  of  the  Assembly.  Its  prolocutor.  Dr.  Twisse, 
was  a  known  supralapsarian.  He  and  his  party  claimed 
that  their  theory  was  the  only  one  which  secured  for  the 
decree  logical  symmetry.  Their  opponents  charged  that 
it  came  too  near  making  God  the  author  of  sin.  Again 
the  Assembly  refuses  to  recognize  the  debate.  It  will 
not  commit  itself  to  this  ultraism  of  the  hyper-Calvinists. 
It  asserts,  indeed,  that  the  decree  is  sovereign,  and  God's 
election  of  his  redeemed  unconditioned;  but  further  it 
will  not  go.  Without  naming  or  sanctioning  the  sub- 
lapsarians  it  adopts  the  mildness  of  their  theory,  while  it 
refuses  to  raise  or  to  approve  the  proposition  that  the 
several  parts  of  God's  infinite  and  eternal  thought  have 
or  can  have  any  real  order  of  sequence  in  his  own  con- 
sciousness ;  for  this  is  a  proposition  extra-scriptural,  yet 
asserted  in  one  form  or  the  other  with  equal  rashness  by 
7 


98  The  Westminster  Assembly, 

hoth  parties.     Therefore  the  Assembly  will  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it,  but  stops  precisely  where  the  word  stops. 

No  divines  have  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  sovereign, 
universal,  and  particular  providence  more  firmly  than 
they  did.  But  again  they  refuse  to  press  its  rationale  a 
single  step  beyond  the  Scriptures.  They  well  knew  that 
in  human  theologies  there  were  burning  questions  just 
here.  Does  creative  omnipotence  confer  any  intrinsic 
being  upon  dependent  existence,  or  is  their  apparent 
continuous  subsistence  merely  God's  perpetual  recreative 
act?  Do  dependent  beings  possess  any  inherent  power, 
or  make  any  active  emission  thereof?  Can  even  a  cre- 
ated spirit  emit  any  specific  action  except  as  enabled  and 
determined  thereto  by  a  particular  pmcursus  of  the  divine 
power?  Is  not  this  extreme  doctrine  necessary  to  sus- 
tain the  certainty  and  sovereignt}'  of  God's  providence? 
Or  does  it  not  virtually  make  God  the  author  of  sin  and 
supersede  the  creature's  responsibility,  and  thus  set  us 
upon  the  awful  verge  of  pantheism?  Or,  if  we  refuse  it, 
how  shall  we  define  the  method  of  God's  control  over 
second  causes?  Again  our  Assembl}-  takes  the  moderate 
ground.  The  Scriptures,  while  asserting  God's  power 
and  providence,  do  not  define  its  method,  neither  will 
the  Assembly.  These  divines  knew  perfectly  well  that 
the  Aquinist  school  of  popish  theologians  always  as- 
serted this  extreme  doctrine  of  the  divine  prcecursus  with 
its  attendant  positions.  They  knew  that  a  powerful  wing 
of  the  Reformed  (.still  supported  by  the  great  Turrettin 
a  generation  later)  asserted  these  positions  as  essential 
to  the  doctrine  of  providence.  But  again  the  Assembly 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  them;  it  will  teach  that 
blessed  doctrine  just  so  far  as  Scripture  teaches  it,  and 
there  it  stops. 

All  Augustinians,  Romanists  and  Protestants  taught    H 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.        99 

that  the  race  fell  in  Adam,  and  that  this  fall  constitutes 
a  permanent  and  decisive  moral  revolution,  leaving  man 
"dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  But  what  is  this  revolu- 
tion? Is  it  a  change  of  aitributicm  or  accidens  in  man? 
Is  his  inability  for  the  spiritual  service  of  God  physical 
or  moral?  Some  Lutheran  Augustinians,  in  their  zeal, 
taught  that  the  fall  had  extinguished  a  part  of  man's 
essentia.  The  semi-Pelagians  replied  that  if  this  were 
true,  then  it  would  be  unrighteous  in  God  to  hold  fallen 
man  longer  to  his  moral  responsibility.  The  Pelagians 
continued  to  assert  their  old  maxim,  ''If  I  ought  I  can''' 
as  a  necessary  intuition.  Many  of  the  Reformed  felt  it 
necessary  (as  Jonathan  Edwards,  a  century  later)  to  re- 
sort to  the  distinction  between  natural  and  moral  ability, 
notwithstanding  its  perilous  ambiguities.  Behold  here 
again  the  wise  moderation  of  our  Confession !  It  will 
not  employ  or  countenance  the  extra-scriptural  distinc- 
tion. It  carefully  avoids  the  ultraism  of  teaching  that 
the  fall  destroyed  anything  in  man's  essentia.  It  firmly 
asserts  our  intuitive  consciousness  that  we  are  always 
free  agents  while  we  are  responsible,  while  rejecting 
the  Scotist  dream  of  the  contingency  of  the  will.  It 
avoids,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Stoical  extravagance  of 
condemning  all  the  social  virtues  of  the  unregenerate  as 
merely  spurious,  because  short  of  godliness.  But  it 
teaches  just  the  Bible  concept  of  the  sinner's  state  of 
spiritual  deadness  with  admirable  moderation  and  accu- 
racy, saying,  "  By  this  fall  men  have  wholl}'  lost  all  ability 
0/  willnnto  any  spiritual  good  accompanying  salvation." 
Sinners  are  dependent  on  sovereign  grace  for  the  new  life 
of  godliness.  Still  they  are  free  agents,  else  they  would 
not  be  accountable.  The  fall  has  not  extinguished 
faculty,  else  responsibility  would  be  extinguished  to  the 
same,  extent*     The  unrenewed  have  social  virtues,  but 


loo  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

they  have  no  abihty  of  will  to  begin  of  themselves  those 
actions  of  spiritual  godliness  which  constitute  the  new 
life.  There  is  the  sad  but  authentic  fact,  as  proved  by 
experience  and  Scripture,  stated  with  the  utmost  moder- 
ation, charity  and  precision  at  once. 

Again,  is  the  imputation  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first 
sin  to  his  seed  immediate  and  precedaneous  ?  Or  is  it 
mediate  and  consequent  in  the  logical  order  upon  men's 
subjective  depravity  inherited  by  race-connection  ?  This 
thorny  debate  was  troubling  the  French,  Holland  and 
Swiss  Reformed  at  the  very  time  our  Assembly  was  sit- 
ting. Joshua  De  La  Place  was  asserting  mediate  impu- 
tation, and  Garrissoles  w^as  denouncing  him  as  a  betrayer 
of  the  whole  doctrine.  The  "Reformed  National  Synod" 
of  France  was  admonishing  De  La  Place,  and  he  was 
explaining  and  disclaiming.  Again  our  wise  divines  re- 
fused to  follow  this  debate  beyond  the  limits  of  express 
Scripture.  They  assert,  as  Scripture  compels  us  to  do, 
that  the  guilt  of  Adam's  first  sin  is  imputed  and  his  cor- 
ruption conveyed  to  all  the  race  except  the  divine  Son  of 
Mary ;  for  this  sad  and  stubborn  fact  is  taught  by 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  by  Christ  and  Paul.  But  fur-  . 
ther  the  Confession  will  not  go.  The  race  sinned  in"T~ 
Adam,  and  fell  with  him.  But  the  Assembly  will  give 
no  metaphysics,  nominalistic  or  realistic,  to  explain  the 
awful  fact,  because  Scripture  gives  none. 

Again,  the  Confession  asserts  with  most  positive  pre- 
cision the  penal  substitution  of  Christ,  the  imputation  of 
our  guilt  to  him,  his  punitive  sufferings  and  sacrifice 
therefor,  and  the  imputation  of  this  satisfaction  to  all  be- 
lievers for  their  justification.  It  holds  fast  to  the  truth 
of  particular  redemption.  Yet  it  carefully  avoids  imply- 
ing any  limitation  upon  the  infinite  value  and  merit  of 
Christ's  sacrifice.      It  carefully  avoids  confusing  the  two 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession,      ioi 

concepts  of  legal  satisfaction  for  guilt  with  the  conse- 
quent at-one-ment,  or  reconciliation,  of  the  believing 
sinner.  And  it  gives  no  countenance  to  the  quid-pro-quo 
theory  of  expiation,  which  affects,  with  a  mischievous 
over-refinement,  to  aflSx  a  commercial  ratio  between  the 
sins  of  the  elect  and  the  one  indivisible  and  infinite  merit 
of  the  divine  sacrifice.  It  asserts,  with  the  strictest  \' 
Reformed,  that  saving  faith  is  a  divine  grace,  and  estab- 
lishes in  the  renewed  soul  a  full  assurance  of  gospel 
truth.  But  the  Confession  refuses  to  say,  along  with 
Luther  and  Calvin,  that  a  divine  and  perfect  assurance 
of  one's  state  of  grace  and  salvation  is  of  the  essence  of 
saving  faith. 

Last,  we  note  the  caution  of  the  Assembly  concerning 
the  millennium.  They  were  well  aware  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  early  Millennarians,  and  of  the  persistence  of 
their  romantic  and  exciting  speculations  among  several 
sects.  Our  divines  find  in  the  Scriptures  the  clearest 
assertions  of  Christ's  second  advent,  and  so  they  teach 
it  most  positively.  They  find  Paul  describing  with  equal 
clearness  one  resurrection  of  the  saved  and  lost  just  be- 
fore this  glorious  second  advent  and  general  judgment. 
So  they  refuse  to  sanction  a  pre-millennial  advent.  But 
what  is  the  nature,  and  what  the  duration,  of  that  mil- 
lennial glory  predicted  in  the  Apocalypse?  Here  the 
Assembly  will  not  dogmatize,  because  these  unfulfilled 
prophecies  are  obscure  to  our  feeble  minds.  It  is  too 
modest  to  dictate  a  belief  amidst  so  many  different  opinions. 

Such  are  some  of  the  instances  of  the  prudent  modera- 
tion of  our  Standards.  Because  of  this  trait  our  Confes- 
sion is  worthy  to  be  the  creed  of  all  gospel  churches. 
And  this  quality  shows  us  that  it  is  a  work  which  cannot 
be  revised  and  amended  without  a  breach  in  its  organic 
integrity.      Many  are  professing  to  say :   Let  us  have  a      • 


I02  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

creed  which  shall  teach  the  Reformed  system  in  its  sub- 
stance, but  let  us  retrench  its  ultraisms  and  excrescences. 
The  history  of  doctrine  shows  us  that  the  Confession  has 
no  excrescences.  The  Westminster  Assembly  has  al- 
ready pruned  them  oiF.  The  real  effect  of  change  will 
be  an  amputation  of  some  essential  member,  endangering 
the  life  of  the  whole  structure,  not  a  cleansing  away  of 
useless  accretions.  Let  us,  then,  be  wise  and  hold  fast 
this  priceless  possession  of  which  a  gracious  Providence 
has  made  us  heirs.  Our  supreme  wisdom  will  be  "to 
let  well  enough  alone,"  and  humbly  teach  our  scriptural 
creed,  instead  of  attempting  vainly  to  tinker  it. 

The  second  branch  of  the  subject  leads  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  necessity  and  value  of  creeds.  The  word 
"creed"  comes  to  us  from  the  Latin  credo.  According 
to  an  old  custom,  the  fathers  and  Canonists  named  a  re- 
ligious document  from  the  first  word  of  its  text.  Thus 
the  papal-bull  ''Unigenitus''  is  so  named  because  that 
adjective  is  the  first  word  of  its  first  sentence  :  ' '  Uyiigen- 
itus  filius  dei,'"  etc.  In  the  Apostles'  Creed,  for  instance, 
credo  is  the  first  word  (I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  etc.),  whence  the  whole  document  came  to 
be  called  the  "Credo."  We  thus  learn  very  simply 
what  a  creed  means :  it  is  a  summary  statement  of  what 
some  religious  teacher  or  teachers  believe  concerning  the 
Christian  system,  stated  in  their  own  uninspired  words. 
But  they  claim  that  these  words  fairly  and  briefly  ex- 
press the  true  sense  of  the  inspired  words.  The  church 
records  several  creeds  of  individual  Christian  teachers ; 
but  the  creeds  of  the  modern  Protestant  world  are  docu- 
ments carefully  constructed  by  some  church  courts  of  su- 
preme authority  in  their  several  denominations,  or  by 
some  learned  committee  appointed  by  them,  and  then 
formally  adopted  by  them  as  their  doctrinal  standard. 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.     103 

The  proper  conditions  for  a  just  creed  should  be 
understood .  In  order  to  the  reasonable  defence  of  creeds, 
the  conditions  for  which  Presb^^terians  make  themselves 
responsible  should  be  clearly  stated  and  considered. 
The  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  wholly  disclaims 
everything  except  the  holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  afid 
New  Testaments  as  either  an  infallible  or  authorita- 
tive rule  of  faith  and  practice.  It  claims,  therefore,  for 
its  Standards  no  rightful  influence  whatever  over  the 
consciences  of  either  clergy  or  laity  except  so  far  as  their 
propositions  are  sustained  by  holj^  writ.  We  hold,  as 
did  the  Synod  of  Dort,  that  in  constructing  our  Stand- 
ards we  are  bound  to  build  exclusively  upon  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  teaching  nothing  except  what  is  expressly 
set  down  therein  or  what  follows  therefrom  by  good  and 
necessary  consequence,  and  asserting  nothing  upon  the 
authority  of  any  human  philosophy,  ethics,  or  of  any 
uninspired  theologians.  Again,  we  utterly  reject  the 
right  of  any  human  authority,  whether  secular  or  eccle- 
siastical, whether  orthodox  or  heterodox,  to  enforce  by 
civil  pains  or  penalties  a  profession  of  belief  by  any  one, 
lay  or  clerical,  in  any  creed  whatever,  whether  true  or 
false,  or  even  in  the  word  of  God  itself.  We  declare 
that  God  alone  is  the  Lord  of  the  conscience.  While  we 
hold  that  all  rational  beings  are  morally  responsible  for 
erroneous  religious  and  moral  opinions,  we  teach  that 
this  responsibility  binds  to  God  alone,  and  not  to  any 
earthly  authority  or  ruler,  spiritual  or  political.  While 
we  disapprove  and  lament  the  holding  of  false  and  in- 
jurious opinions  by  our  fellowmen,  we  declare  that  the 
only  means  proper  to  us  whereby  to  amend  them  are 
charity,  teaching,  faithful  admonition  and  holy  example. 
God  alone  is  the  proper  avenger  of  unbelief.  Therefore, 
we  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  persecutions  or  oppres- 


I04  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

sions,  or  any  invasions  of  men's  just  liberty  of  thought, 
of  which  some  human  creeds  in  the  past  have  been  made 
the  pretext.  We  declare  that  our  responsibility  for  all 
such  abuses  and  injustice  is  utterly  dissolved  by  our 
reasonable  and  scriptural  position  concerning  the  proper 
use  of  human  creeds ;  inasmuch  as  our  doctrine  thereon,  if 
faithfully  followed,  absolutely  forbids  and  renders  im- 
possible all  persecution  for  opinion's  sake.  We  also 
hold  that,  inasmuch  as  Holy  Scripture  commands  us  "to 
receive  them  that  are  weak,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputa- 
tions," we  are  not  to  require  of  penitent  believers  asking 
admission  to  Christ's  church  any  of  the  heads  of  our 
creed,  except  such  as  are  fundamental  to  Christian  re- 
demption and  holy  living;  but,  upon  their  sincere  adop- 
tion of  the  latter,  the  laity  are  to  be  admitted  to  all  the 
privileges  of  the  visible  church.  It  is  only  of  the  pas- 
tors and  the  doctors  of  the  church,  and  of  such  other 
officers  as  exercise  spiritual  rule  therein,  that  we  right- 
fully require  the  adoption  of  our  whole  creed,  as  con- 
taining the  system  of  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  And  such  requirement  of  these  is  reasonable 
and  lawful  and  absolutely  necessary  to  the  faithful  testi- 
mony of  any  church  unto  that  system  of  truth  for  which 
her  Lord  has  made  her  a  witness.  But,  once  more,  we 
expressly  repudiate  the  claim  of  right  or  authority  to 
dismiss,  exclude  or  expel  any  person,  lay  or  clerical, 
from  the  catholic  or  universal  church  of  Christ  on  the 
mere  ground  of  his  dissent  from  or  rejection  of  }>arts  of 
our  creed.  All  we  claim  is  the  right  to  separate  him 
therefor  from  among  the  teachers  of  our  branch  or  de- 
nomination of  the  catholic  church,  leaving  him  free  to 
join  any  other  denomination  whose  creed  he  can  heartily 
adopt.  Should  any  dissentient  from  our  doctrine  refuse 
to  us  this  method  of  self-protection,  he  would  be  invad- 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.      105 

ing  our  spiritual  liberty  and  not  defending  his  own. 
For  when  we  have  freely  associated  ourselves  unto  what 
we  conscientiously  believe  to  be  a  faithful  witness-bear- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  he  who  should  claim  to 
impugn  our  doctrinal  testimony  by  our  own  authority 
would  be  only  perpetrating  a  gross  outrage  upon  our 
equal  rights  and  liberty  of  conscience,  and  we  accord- 
ingly declare  that  we  do  not  limit  the  being  and  rights 
of  "the  holy  catholic  church"  to  that  company  of  be- 
lievers holding  with  us  our  Standards  and  scripturally 
denominated  by  the  term  Presbyterian.  But  we  recog- 
nize as  other  denominations  in  the  sacramental  host  all 
who  teach  the  fundamental  doctrines  and  uphold  the 
morals  of  Christ's  gospel.  We  believe  that  the  visible 
unity  whereby  God  is  to  be  glorified  is  to  be  found  in 
the  faithful  recognition  of  each  other's  sacraments,  orders 
and  church  discipline  (limited  to  admonition  and  spiritual 
penalties),  by  each  denomination  in  the  church  catholic; 
and  not  in  a  fusion  and  amalgamation  of  all  into  one 
visible  ecclesiastical  body ;  a  result  only  made  feasible 
by  one  or  the  other  criminal  alternative,  popery  or  broad 
churchism. 

Objections  to  creeds  remain  to  be  discussed.  After 
the  above  statement  of  the  use  we  claim  for  them,  and 
our  repudiation  of  all  right  of  persecution  for  opinion's 
sake,  there  remain  but  two  objections  which  have  even  a 
seeming  show  of  force.  One  is,  that  Christ  in  Holy 
Scripture  has  not  commanded  or  authorized  any  visible 
church  or  church  court  to  set  up  any  Standards,  or  bonds 
of  communion,  of  human  and  uninspired  authority.  We 
are  challenged  to  show  the  place  containing  such  a  com- 
mand from  God.  We  are  reminded  of  our  own  declara- 
tion that  "the  Bible  alone  is  the  religion  of  Protestants," 
and  of  our  own  strict  protests  against  all  such  as  ' '  teach 


io6  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

for  dogmas  the  commandments  of  men."  The  other  ob- 
jection is,  that  the  addition  of  a  creed  of  human  compo- 
sition implies  the  arrogant  assumption  that  the  language 
of  the  church  doctors  or  church  courts  who  formulate 
such  creeds  is  better,  more  just,  and  more  perspicuous 
than  the  words  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  this  claim  is  un- 
true, vain-glorious,  and  near  to  impiet3^ 

The  Presbyterian  Church  retracts  no  word  of  her  tes- 
timony against  will-worship  and  the  intrusion  of  human 
authority  into  Christ's  church.  But  she  unavoidably 
holds  that  "there  are  some  circumstances  concerning  the 
worship  of  God  and  government  of  the  church,  common 
to  human  actions  and  societies,  which  are  to  be  ordered 
by  the  light  of  nature  and  Christian  prudence,  according 
to  the  general  rules  of  the  word,  which  are  always  to  be 
observed."  (Conf.,  Ch.  I.,  Sec.  6.)  No  visible  church 
could  exist  without  acting  upon  this  qualification,  and 
adopting,  under  the  guidance  of  revealed  principles, 
those  practical  rules  of  detail  imperatively  taught  her  by 
experience  and  historical  facts.  The  reply  to  the  first 
objection  is,  that  such  use  of  human  creeds  as  is  defined 
above  comes,  like  all  other  human  expositions  of  Scrip- 
ture, under  this  class.  The  same  principles  which  jus- 
tify these  also  justify  creeds. 

All  Protestants  believe  that  Hol}^  Scripture  should  be 
translated  into  the  vernacular  tongues  of  the  nations. 
Only  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  are  immediately  inspired ; 
the  translators  must  be  uninspired.  Therefore  these 
versions  are  uninspired  human  expositions  of  the  divine 
originals.  Wycliffe's  version,  Luther's,  Tyndal's,  are  but 
their  hunn.n  beliefs  of  what  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
words  are  meant  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  signify.  These 
translators  might  have  said  with  perfect  truth,  each  one, 
"These    renderings    into    English    or    German    are    my 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.      107 

credo.'"  The  church  which  uses  such  a  translation  for 
the  instruction  of  her  people  and  the  settlement  of  even 
her  most  cardinal  doctrines  is  using  a  creed  of  human 
composition  ;  and  those  who  exclaim,  "  The  Holy  Scrip- 
tures themselves  are  our  only  and  our  sufficient  creed," 
put  themselves  in  a  ridiculous  attitude  whenever  they 
use  a  vernacular  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  for  that 
which  they  profess  to  hold  as  their  creed  is  still  but  an 
uninspired  human  exposition. 

Beyond  question,  God  has  ordained,  as  a  means  of 
grace  and  indoctrination,  the  oral  explanation  and  en- 
forcement of  divine  truths  by  all  preachers.  Thus  Ezra 
(Nehemiah  viii.  8)  causes  the  priests  to  "read  in  the 
book  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and  give  the  sense,  and 
cause  them  to  understand  the  reading."  Paul  com- 
manded Timoth}'  (2  Tim.  iv.  2)  to  "reprove,  rebuke, 
exhort  with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine."  He,  as  an 
apostle  of  Chri.st,  not  only  permits,  but  commands,  each 
uninspired  pastor  and  doctor  to  give  to  his  charge  his 
human  and  uninspired  expositions  of  what  he  believes 
to  be  divine  truth,  that  is  to  say,  his  creed.  If  such  hu- 
man creeds,  when  composed  by  a  single  teacher  and  de- 
livered orall)%  extempore,  are  proper  means  of  instruction 
for  the  church,  by  the  stronger  reason  must  those  be 
proper  and  scriptural  which  are  the  careful,  mature,  and 
joint  productions  of  learned  and  godly  pastors,  delivered 
with  all  the  accuracy  of  written  documents.  He  who 
would  consistently  banish  creeds  must  silence  all  preach- 
ing and  reduce  the  teaching  of  the  church  to  the  recital 
of  the  exact  words  of  H0I3'  Scripture  without  note  or 
comment. 

Another  revealed  precept  is  equally  plain  :  that  God 
appointed  his  church  to  be  a  witnessing  body,  "the  pil- 
lar and  ground  of  the  truth."     This  must  mean  that  the 


io8  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

church  is  to  testify  constantly  to  the  whole  body  of  re- 
vealed precepts  and  doctrines,  and  not  to  parts  or  frag- 
ments only.  The  direction  of  this  witness-bearing  is 
expressly  committed  to  the  presbyters  of  the  church. 
They  are  commanded  (2  Tim.  i.  13)  "to  hold  fast  the 
form  of  sound  words,  which  they  heard"  from  the  apos- 
tles, and  (Jude  3)  "earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faith 
which  was  once  delivered  unto  the  saints."  Again,  the 
presbyters  are  expressly  commanded  to  provide  a  suc- 
cession of  teachers  of  those  divine  doctrines,  and,  in 
doing  so,  to  provide  for  the  fidelity  of  their  successors  to 
this  code  of  truths.  2  Tim.  ii.  2  :  "  And  the  things  that 
thou  hast  heard  of  me  among  many  witnesses,  the  same 
commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be  able  {ikanoi, 
qualified)  to  teach  others."  Indisputably  this  precept 
involves  the  use  of  some  adequate  standard  of  the  re- 
vealed system  of  truth  for  the  testing  of  the  sufficient 
intelligence  and  orthodoxy  of  belief  in  the  new  men  to 
be  entrusted  with  this  divine  charge.  It  is  equalh'  clear 
that  when  the  presbyters  admit  these  to  take  part  in 
their  ministry,  the  new  men  virtually  covenant  to  be 
faithful  to  that  system  of  truths  to  which  their  ordainers 
are  also  solemnly  bound.  The  function  to  which  these 
admit  them  is  the  witnessing  function.  But  witnessing 
to  what  ?  Should  the  new  men  claim,  and  the  older 
presbyters  bestow,  the  prerogative  of  rejecting  and  dis- 
puting the  very  system  of  truths  to  which  the>'  are  sol- 
emnly covenanted,  we  know  not  which  would  be  greater, 
the  faithlessness  of  the  ordainers  to  their  trust  or  the 
impudent  dishonest}^  of  the  candidates  in  seeking  the 
trust  that  they  may  betray  it.  Now,  what  shall  this 
standard  of  fitness  be  ?  Some  reply,  it  should  be  the 
word  of  God  alone.  Our  previous  di.scussion  has  .shown, 
in  the  first   place,  that   if  this  is  to  be  the  standard   it 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.      109 

must  be  the  original  Greek  and  Hebrew  Scriptures  alone, 
for  every  translation  is  but  the  uninspired  translator's 
credo.  Thus  this  claim,  made  by  parties  who  require  of 
their  preachers  no  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
tongues,  appears  little  short  of  ridiculous. 

In  the  second  place,  experience  has  taught  that,  since 
the  death  of  the  inspired  men,  the  Scriptures  alone  are 
no  longer  a  sufficient  test  of  fidelity  to  divine  truth,  and 
here  we  rebut  the  second  objection  which  has  been  so  in- 
solently obtruded.  We  do  not  rest  our  assertion  upon 
the  arrogant  assumption  of  an  accuracy  and  perspicuity 
of  language  and  style  superior  to  those  of  the  inspired 
men ;  we  base  it  upon  a  set  of  stubborn  historical  facts 
which  have  emerged,  since  the  inspired  men  went  to 
heaven,  out  of  the  infirmity,  spiritual  darkness,  vain-glory 
and  indwelling  sin  of  unsanctified  or  partially  sanctified 
men  in  the  visible  church.  The  necessity  of  a  further  test 
in  form  of  a  subsequent  creed  results  not  from  any  lack  of 
proper  selection  or  infallible  accuracy  in  the  words  of 
the  languages  of  inspiration,  but  from  the  human  nature 
and  infirmity  of  mankind  in  their  use  of  language. 
Nothing  should  be  more  familiar  to  scholars  than  the 
fact  so  well  described  by  Horace,  that  they  are  like  the 
foliage  of  an  evergreen  tree.  It  never,  like  a  deciduous 
tree,  changes  all  its  leaves  at  one  season ;  but  there  is  a 
perpetual  slow  change  in  the  individual  leaves,  of  which  a 
few  continually  change  color,  and  a  few  drop  off.  Such 
being  the  nature  of  human  language,  it  may  follow  that 
the  word  which,  at  the  time  the  inspired  men  wrote,  was 
the  best  and  most  exact  possible  symbol  of  his  intended 
thought  will  have  ceased  to  be  such,  after  the  lapse  of 
generations.  Then  the  subsequent  definition  becomes 
proper  and  necessary,  not  because  of  any  defect  in  the 
inspired  words,  but  because  of  the  fickle   infirmity  of 


I  lo  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

men.  Thus,  when  the  Authorized  Version  was  issued, 
"to  let"  meant  "to  hinder";  in  popular  English  it  now 
means  "to  allow"  or  "permit,"  almost  the  opposite  idea. 
"To  prevent"  signified  "to  precede";  it  now  means 
"to  hinder "  or  "obstruct."  But  why  multiply  instances? 
A  more  imperative  need  of  subsequent  definition  has 
arisen  out  of  the  infirmity  of  human  intellect,  and  the 
blindness  of  the  human  heart  which  prompted  professed 
believers  in  Scripture  to  frame  new  and  discordant  con- 
cepts of  the  leading  terms  of  holy  writ.  Here  we  are  face 
to  face  with  a  large  group  of  stubborn  facts,  which  it  is 
simply  childish  to  attempt  to  disregard.  Let  us  suppose 
a  court  of  scriptural  presbyters,  invested  with  the  duty 
and  responsibility  of  selecting  and  ordaining  successors. 
Let  us  suppose  this  court  professing  to  employ  no  other 
test  or  standard  of  fidelity  to  God's  truth  than  the  Scrip- 
ture itself.  Let  us  suppose  a  cluster  of  candidates  before 
them,  of  whom  each  and  all  declare  that  they  believe  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  hold  all  their  ipsissinia  vei'ba  as 
their  sincere  creed.  The  court  points  to  these  express 
words  of  Christ  in  John's  Gospel:  "I  and  my  Father  are 
one."  The  court  declares  for  itself  that  it  can  honestly 
see  in  these  words  this  meaning  only — the  consubstantial 
unity  and  equal  divinity  of  the  two  persons.  But  one  of 
the  candidates  is  a  Sabellian,  and  he  exclaims,  "No,  it 
means  that  Father  and  Sou  are  neither  of  them  consub- 
stantial with  deity,  but  two  parallel  emanations  from  a 
central  incognoscible  divine  unit."  Another  is  an  Arian ; 
he  declares,  "No;  the  Son  is  but  a  creature,  the  earliest 
and  most  exalted  of  creatures,  and  divine  Son  of  God, 
only  by  an  act  of  adoption."  The  third  is  a  Socinian, 
and  he  cries,  "  No ;  Christ  is  only  a  human  being,  favored 
"by  God,  more  than  an}^  other  prophet,  with  a  species  of 
adoption,  becau.se  of  his  sanctitj^  and  loyalty."     Now, 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession,     i  i  i 

we  need  not  claim  that  a  court  of  presbyters  is  the  only 
party  which  construes  the  inspired  words  aright,  or  that 
it  alone  is  honest.  The  court  and  the  Sabellian,  the  Arian 
and  the  Socinian,  each  declares  the  same  sincere  belief 
in  the  Holy  Scripture.  Allow  them  all  to  be  equally 
honest,  yet  this  obstinate  fact  remains,  that  they  aU  con- 
tradict each  other.  Must  they  yet  be  all  ordained  as 
authorized  witnesses  to  one  vital  truth,  and  that  by  this 
court,  which  honestly  believes  each  of  the  others  in  fatal 
error?  Where,  then,  could  be  the  church's  testimony 
for  truth  ? 

Again,  the  court  of  presbyters  points  to  the  term 
metanoia,  and  asks  each  candidate  what  it  means.  They 
all  declare  the  Holy  Scripture,  including  this  term,  is 
their  honest  creed.  But  one  is  a  Pelagian,  and  he  says 
metanoia  means  simply  an  outward  reform  of  manners 
and  morals,  wrought  by  the  human  will.  Another  is  a 
papist,  and  he  translates  jneta7ioia  "doing  penance." 
Another  is  an  evangelical  believer,  who  asserts  that 
metanoia  is  conversion,  a  fundamental  revolution  df  the 
soul  as  to  God,  sin,  and  duty.  Yet  all  say  their  creed  is 
the  Bible!  Again,  we  say,  why  multiply  instances? 
There  is  not  a  cardinal  doctrine,  nor  sacrament  of  the 
gospel,  concerning  which  parties  claiming  to  be  Chris- 
tians do  not  advance  explanations  discordant  with,  and 
destructive  of,  each  other.  What  is  it,  then,  except  a 
puerile  fraud,  for  men  to  cry,  "The  Scripture  is  the  only 
creed  needed"?  If  a  church  is  to  have  any  honest  testi- 
mony, something  else  is  needed  as  a  test  of  harmony  in 
beliefs,  a  candid  explanation  in  other  terms,  which, 
though  human,  have  not  been  misconstrued. 

This  view  has,  in  fact,  a  force  so  resistless  that  it  is 
unavoidably  obeyed  by  all  the  parties  which  profess  to 
discard  it.     There  is  not,  and  there  never  has  been,  a 


112  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

body  possessing  any  organic  consistency,  as  a  church  or 
denomination  of  Christians,  which  has  not  had  a  virtual 
creed,  if  unwritten,  additional  to  the  mere  words  of 
Scripture.  And  every  one  of  them  practically  applies  its 
creed  for  the  preservation  of  its  testimony'  by  the  exclu- 
sion of  dissentients.  The  only  real  difference  between 
these  professedly  creedless  bodies  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is,  that  their  unwritten  creeds  are  less  manly,  less 
honest  and  distinct,  and,  therefore,  more  fruitful  of  dis- 
cord among  themselves,  than  our  candid,  published  and 
permanent  declaration.  And  here  is  one  of  the  legiti- 
mate uses  of  our  creed:  when  we  invite  men  to  share 
with  us  our  responsibility  as  witnesses  to  God's  truth, 
they  have  a  right  to  ask  us.  what  the  tenor  of  that  wit- 
nessing is  to  be.  It  is  but  dishonest  child's  play  to  .say, 
"  Holy  Scripture  is  the  creed  to  which  we  witne.ss,"  when 
the  inquirer  knows  that  every  party  of  heretics  and  ene- 
mies of  God's  truth  is  ready  to  give  the  same  answer. 
We  give  a  clear  and  honest  reply.  We  say  to  the  in- 
quirer. Here  is  our  printed  creed,  which  expresses  the 
propositions  we  believe  the  Scriptures  to  teach  in  care- 
fully chosen  words,  whose  meaning  is  as  unambiguous 
and  as  recognized  at  this  time  with  those  who  dispute 
our  views  as  with  ourselves.  "If  these  words  express 
your  views  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  you  can  come  and  wit- 
ness with  us,  happily,  honestly,  and  usefully.  If  they 
do  not,  we  neither  persecute  nor  unchurch  you,  but 
leave  you,  under  your  responsibility  to  your  own  God, 
to  select  the  affiliation  which  suits  you."  Such  a  creed, 
instead  of  being  a  cause  of  schism,  is  an  Irenicidn,  a 
source  of  mutual  respect,  brotherly  love  and  .substantial 
agreement,  amid.st  minor  differences,  between  the  several 
l)ranches  of  the  church  catholic. 

Our    Confession  of  Faith   is  among   the   fullest   and 


Doctrinal  Contents  of  the  Confession.    113 

most  detailed  creeds  of  the  Protestant  world.  In  many 
places  there  is  a  current  tendency  towards  shorter  or 
very  brief  creeds.  It  has  been  already  avowed  by  us 
that  the  creed  required  of  penitent  believers  seeking  our 
fold  should  be  short,  the  shortest  possible,  provided  it 
includes  the  necessary  fundamentals  of  redemption. 
But  the  doctrinal  covenant  required  of  teachers  and 
rulers  in  Christ's  church  ought  to  be  full  and  detailed. 
No  man  who  is  still  a  "babe  in  the  faith,"  "and  such 
as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of  strong  meat,"  should 
dare  to  assume  these  sacred  offices.  Our  Lord  requires 
of  those  who  fill  them  a  full  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
all  the  heads  of  doctrine  which  make  up  the  system  of 
gospel  truth,  for  two  commanding  reasons.  One  is  this, 
he  knows  that  those  truths  constitute  a  system.  In 
order  that  they  may  stand  they  must  sla7id  together.  Each 
head  must  support  and  be  reciprocally  supported  by  the 
other  heads,  else  none  of  them  stand  securely;  because 
there  is  such  logical  interconnection  between  all  the 
parts  that  the  rejection  of  one  head  introduces  logical 
doubt  and  difficulty  concerning  the  other  heads.  If  any 
stone  in  the  arch  be  loosened,  every  other  stone  and  the 
whole  structure  will  become  insecurce. 

The  members  of  this  venerable  body  are  too  familiar 
with  Christian  theology  to  need  any  illustration  of  this 
result.  Now,  a  babe  in  Christ  raaj^  be  supposed  to  hold 
sincerely  a  few  fundamental  truths  of  redemption,  though 
he  doubt  or  reject  other  connected  heads  of  doctrine 
because  he  is  a  babe.  He  does  but  little  connected 
thinking  upon  the  system.  He  sees  a  few  things  clearly, 
but  the  rest  diml}-.  Hence,  we  may  credit  him  with 
being  both  sincere  and  illogical.  But  such  a  one  is 
unfit  to  direct  others  in  spiritual  things.  The  Christian 
who  is  qualified  for  this  is  one  who  has  thought  widely, 


114  Thb  Westminster  AssKMBLY. 

clearly,  and  consistently.  Such  a  man,  if  honest,  cannot 
uphold  the  arch  of  truth  after  dropping  out  any  one  of 
its  essential  stones ;  he  must  uphold  each  and  all,  or  he 
is  not  full)^  trustworthy  for  upholding  the  sacred  arch. 
The  other  reason  is  that  "all  Scripture  is  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine."  There- 
fore, the  faithful  and  competent  teacher  must  employ  all 
the  parts  of  revelation.  It  is  only  by  declaring  to  his 
charge  the  whole  counsel  of  God  that  he  can  stand 
clear  of  their  blood  in  the  great  day  of  accounts. 


REV.  GIVENS  B.  STRICK-LKR.  D.   D..  LL.   D. 


V. 


THE  NATURE,   VALUE,   AND  SPECIAL  UTILITY 
OF  THE  CATECHISMS. 

BY 

Rev.  GIVENS  B.  STRICKLER,  D.  D.,  LL  D., 

PROFESSOR    IN    UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY, 
AT   HAMPDEN-SIDNEY,    VIRGINIA. 


ANALYSIS. 

Catechetical  teaching. — By  question  and  answer. — Its  his- 
tory.— Scripture  instances. — The  law. — The  Passover. — Ezra. — 
The  Talmud — Jewish  catechetical  schools. — Josephus. — Jewish 
schools  in  later  times. — Apostolic  age. — Teaching  and  preach- 
ing.— The  early  Fathers. — Christian  catechetical  schools.— Dr. 
Schaff  quoted. — Early  mission  work. — Not  used  in  Dark  Ages. — 
Reformers  revived  it. — Gave  it  large  place. — Its  value  felt.— Sum- 
mary.— Best  method  of  instruction. — Especially  religious  teach- 
ing.— Reasons. — Brings  truth  clearly  before  the  mind.^Calls 
attention  to  it. — Tests  knowledge. — Exposes  ignorance.  —  Pre- 
sents all  aspects  of  truth. — Secures  accuracy  and  completeness. — 
Aids  practical  application. — Gains  spiritual  ends. — Summary. — 
Yet  public  preaching  of  utmost  value. — Primal  value. — Church 
leaders  also  use  catechetical  method. — Luther. — Calvin. — Zwin- 
gli. —  Beza. —  Knox. —  Cranmer. —  Ridley.  — Usher.  — The  testi- 
mony of  enemies  confirms. — Romish  catechism  checked  Reform- 
ation.— Catechetical  instruction  defended  the  Waldenses  against 
Rome. — The  Westminster  Catechisms  are  of  the  highest  value. — 
They  are  fitted  to  be  so. — Their  authors  were  competent  men. — 
Had  full  knowledge. — Had  other  catechisms  to  aid. — Made  with 
great  care  and  patience. — Several  committees  acted.  — The  Larger 
and  Shorter  Catechisms. — No  other  catechisms  made  with  equal 
care. — Compared  with  Heidelberg  and  Romish. — Contain  all  the 
essential  truths  of  the  gospel. — God. — Sin. — Christ. — Salvation. — 
Duty. — Death. — Destiny. — Truths  stated  with  great  accuracy. — 
Stated  in  positive  form. — Yet  it  wards  off  error. — Doctrine  of 
justification,  to  illustrate. — Summary. — Obiections  considered. — 
Young  people  cannot  understand  the  teaching. — But  may  under- 
stand much. — Honest  effort  will  master  it. — Hard  to  remember. — 
Not  more  so  than  many  secular  things  learned. — Reasons  for 
using  our  own  catechisms. — If  not  learned  in  childhood,  likely 
never  learned. — Youth  the  best  time  for  lasting  impressions  to  be 
made. — Rain-marks  upon  stone  slab,  to  illustrate. — Denomina- 
tional prosperity  requires  it. — Young  people  thereby  protected 
against  attacks,  and  able  to  hold  their  ground.— Inspiration  of 
Bible. — Decrees. — Predestination. —  Election. — Depravity. —  Re- 
generation.—  Perseverance. — Save  our  people  from  dangers. — 
The  truths  thus  taught  build  good  and  great  characters.— This 
the  crown  of  all. — A  closing  exhortation. 

ii6 


THE  NATURE,   VALUE,   AND  SPECIAL  UTILITY 
OF  THE  CATECHISMS. 


TEACHING,  by  the  catechetical  method,  has  marked 
the  history  of  the  church  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning down  to  the  present  time.  A  divine  warrant  for 
it,  if  not  requirement  of  it,  may  be  found  in  such  pas- 
sages of  God's  word  as  Deut.  vi.  6,  7:  "And  these 
words  which  I  command  thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine 
heatt,  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 
children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and 
when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up."  And 
Exodus  xii.  26,  27:  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
when  your  children  shall  say  to  you,  What  mean  ye  by 
this  service  ? ' '  (the  service  of  the  passover)  * '  that  ye 
shall  say.  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  passover,  who 
passed  over  the  houses  of  the  children  of  Israel  in 
Egypt,  when  he  smote  the  Egj^ptians,  and  delivered  our 
houses. ' '  In  these  instances,  in  order  to  give  children 
the  full  and  accurate  instruction  they  needed  about  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  referred  to,  and  about  the 
important  sacrament  instituted  in  the  church  in  the 
passover,  it  was  necessary  that  a  number  of  questions 
should  be  asked  and  answered;  and  then,  that  the  truth 
about  these  and  other  subjects,  once  learned,  might  not 
be  forgotten,  but  kept  ever  fresh  in  the  memory,  and  in 
constant  and  influential  contact  with  the  mind  and  heart, 
it  was  necessary  that  it  should  frequently  be  reviewed ; 

117 


ii8  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

that  there  should  be  "precept  upon  precept,  precept 
upon  precept;  line  upon  line,  line  upon  line;  here  a 
little  and  there  a  little."  Thus,  we  may  say,  the  cate- 
chetical method  of  instruction  was  instituted  at  the  very- 
beginning  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 

Not  only,  however,  was  it  then  instituted,  but  there 
is  evidence  that  it  was  afterwards  more  or  less  faithfully 
made  use  of  during  at  least  portions  of  that  long  period 
of  time ;  and  that  it  was  most  efl&cient  in  preserving 
amongst  the  Israelites  a  knowledge  of  the  revelations 
that,  at  different  times,  God  made  to  them.  At  any 
rate,  just  before,  and  at  the  dawn  of  the  new  dispensa- 
tion, this  mode  of  teaching  was  in  general  use  amongst 
the  Jews.  Students  of  the  Talmud  and  of  the  Targums 
find  that  there  were  then  catechetical  Bible  schools  in 
all  the  synagogues ;  and  that  they  were  very  numerous ; 
sixteen,  for  instance,  in  such  a  city  as  Tiberias,  and 
more  than  four  hundred  in  Jerusalem.  Some  say  four 
hundred  and  sixty ;  others  four  hundred  and  eighty. 
They  find  also  that  the  Jewish  teachers  attached  to 
these  schools  .so  much  importance  that  they  were  tempted 
to  ascribe  their  origin  to  the  remotest  antiquity  ;  to  claim 
that  they  were  in  existence  before  the  flood,  and  that 
many  of  the  illustrious  men  mentioned  in  the  Scrip- 
tures— Enoch,  Sheni,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses, 
Samuel,  Elisha,  and  a  number  of  others — belonged  to 
them,  first  as  pupils,  afterwards  as  teachers ;  that  these 
schools  constituted  a  .special  privilege  and  a  peculiar 
honor  that  God  had  bestowed  on  his  true  people  in  all 
ages.  Of  course  such  claims,  to  the  full  extent  that 
they  were  thus  made,  have  little  historical  value.  Yet 
they  seem  to  furnish  .strong  evidence  that  such  schools 
had  been  in  existence  in  their  past  history  for  a  long 
period  of  time.     Josephus  claimed  that  they  had  been 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.      119 

in  existence  from  the  days  of  Moses,  and  that  in  them 
many  of  the  people  had  not  only  been  taught  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord,  but  had  learned  them  so  well 
that  they  could  recite  them  as  accurately  as  they  could 
give  their  own  names.  It  seems  to  be  evident,  then, 
that  such  schools  were  in  existence  at  our  Saviour's 
advent.  Indeed,  if  the  testimony  of  the  rabbis  may 
be  relied  on,  the}^  were  not  only  in  existence,  but  were 
regarded  as  an  integial  part  of  the  religious  system 
of  the  country,  and  as  essential  to  its  welfare.  A 
number  of  proverbs  were  then  in  existence  expressing 
this  view.  .  It  was  said  that  the  world  continues  in 
existence  only  by  the  breath  of  the  children  of  the 
schools — the  Bible  schools;  that  the  true  guardians  of 
the  country  were  the  teachers  of  those  schools ;  that  if 
any  one  would  destroy  the  Jews,  he  must  first  destroy 
their  schools ;  and  it  was  one  of  their  religious  laws  that 
no  one  should  live  in  a  place  where  one  of  those  schools 
had  not  been  established.  There  seems  thus  to  be  clear 
evidence  that  the  catechetical  method  of  teaching  had 
marked  the  history  of  the  church  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Mosaic  dispensation  down  to  the  inauguration  of 
•the  new. 

But  there  is  evidence  equally  clear  that  it  then  passed 
over  into  the  new.  The  Jews,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
accustomed  to  this  mode  of  instruction.  Those  who  be- 
came Christians  had  been  accustomed  to  it.  No  doubt 
the  apostles  themselves  had  learned  much  that  they  knew 
about  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  in  such  schools ;  and, 
therefore,  when  they  became  disciples,  and  were  com- 
manded by  the  Saviour  to  go  forth  and  make  known  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel  which  they  had  learned  from 
him,  we  may  be  sure  that  they  made  use  of  the  cate- 
chetical method,  with  which  they  were  already  so  fa- 


I20  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

miliar,  as  well  as  of  the  public  and  formal  discourse. 
Traces  of  this  fact  seem  to  be  found  in  the  accounts 
given  in  the  New  Testament  of  their  modes  of  instruction, 
especially  in  the  distinction  sometimes  made  between 
teaching  and  preaching.  It  is  said  that  our  Saviour 
went  about  '^^  teaching^'  in  their  s^magogues,  and 
*  ^preaching ' '  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom ;  that  the 
apostles  ceased  not  to  ''teach'''  and  to  "'preach'''  Jesus 
as  the  Christ ;  that  on  one  occasion  Paul  and  Barnabas 
tarried  at  Antioch  '^teaching'''  and  "'preaching"  the 
word  of  the  Lord.  Thus  a  distinction  is  sometimes 
made  between  teaching  and  preaching  ;  and,  no  doubt, 
in  such  instances,  by  teaching  is  meant  the  catechetical 
method,  the  method  by  question  and  answer ;  while  by 
preaching  is  meant  the  public  formal  continuous  dis- 
course, to  which  the  same  term  is  still  applied.  There 
seems  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt,  then,  that  the  catecheti- 
cal method  of  teaching  was  in  use  under  the  old  dispen- 
sation, and  that  it  passed  over  from  the  old  into  the 
new. 

That  it  was  employed  under  the  new  by  the  early 
fathers,  after  it  was  introduced  by  the  apostles,  is  a  fact 
of  church  historj^  so  familiar  that  little  need  be  .said 
about  it.  Baron  Bunsen  saj-s  that  "the  apostolic  church 
made  the  school, ' '  the  Christian  school,  ' '  the  connect- 
ing link  between  itself  and  the  world."  Celsus,  one  of 
the  earliest  and  most  powerful  opponents  of  the  church, 
charged  that  Christians  propagated  religion  through 
their  schools,  and  Origen  admitted  the  truth  of  the 
charge;  but  defended  the  policy  of  the  church  in  em- 
ploying that  method  of  propagation,  by  pointing  out  the 
great  moral  and  spiritual  benefits  the  children  received 
in  the  schools.  Dr.  Schaff  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
although  the  early  church  had  no  societies  for  dissemi- 


Naturb  and  Valuk  of  the  Catechisms.      121 

nating  the  gospel,  no  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary- 
societies,  such  as  we  now  have,  nevertheless  in  about 
three  centuries  the  whole  population  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  nominally  Christianized ;  and  that  this  great 
achievement  was  wrought  by  the  divinely  approved  plan 
of  "the  child-reaching  and  child-teaching  methods"  of 
which  the  church  then  made  use.  It  is  a  familiar  fact 
that  there  was  early  established  ixi  the  church  a  kind  of 
institution  called  the  catechumenate,  or-classes  of  cate- 
chumens ;  that  when  any  of  the  surrounding  pagans 
wished  to  come  into  the  church,  they  were  first  placed  in 
those  classes,  and,  as  a  rule,  kept  there  for  two  or  three 
years ;  that  often  the  best  talent  of  the  church  was  em- 
ployed to  give  them  instruction  before  they  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  enjoyment  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church, 
and  that  this  was  one  of  the  grand  instrumentalities  by 
which  the  church  was  spread  abroad  over  the  world,  and 
by  which  her  conquests  were  preserv^ed,  and  converted 
into  the  means  of  future  and  still  greater  victories. 

When  the  Dark  Ages  came  on,  of  course  this  method  of 
instruction,  as  well  as  every  other,  fell  into  disuse. 
Those  ages  became  dark  for  that  very  reason ;  for  the 
darkness  was  the  darkness  of  religious  ignorance.  When, 
however,  the  Reformation  dawned,  this  mode  of  teaching 
was  at  once  revived,  and  most  actively  employed  in  dis- 
seminating the  gospel.  Luther  wrote  two  catechisms; 
Calvin  wrote  two;  a  large  number  were  prepared  by 
others;  and  they  continued  to  multiply  down  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Westminster  Assembly ;  and  in  that  As- 
sembly there  were  twelve  men,  perhaps  fourteen,  who 
had  written  catechisms  and  efficiently  employed  them  in 
the  religious  training  of  their  people. 

Thus,  under  the  old  dispensation  and  under  the  new, 
down  to  the  Westminster  Assembly,  and,  indeed,  ever 


122  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

since,  the  catechetical  method  of  instruction  has  been 
employed  by  the  church  in  doing  her  great  work ;  and  I 
have  furnished  the  foregoing  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
we  might  see  that  this  ■)node  of  teaching  lias  resting  iipo7i 
it  the  iiyiqitalified  e?idorsement  of  the  church  in  all  ages, 
especially  in  her  best  ages  ;  and  that  it  has  been  ofte  of  the 
■jnost  efficient  of  all  the  agencies  which  God  has  made  tise  of 
to  secure  those  blessed  results  by  which  the  past  history  of  the 
cJmt'ch  has  been  7narked} 

Of  course,  for  such  a  fact  as  this  there  must  be  a  good 
reason,  and  that  reason  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover :  the 
catechetical  mode  of  teaching  has  the  endorsement  of  the 
church  in  all  ages,  and  has  been  employed  by  her  great 
Head  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  all  means  for  ac- 
complishing his  work  in  the  world,  because  it  is  the  best 
viode  for  giving  thorough  religious  inst}2iction.  It  is  the 
best  for  a  number  of  reasons. 

One  is,  that  this  mode,  better  than  any  other,  brings 
before  the  mind  of  the  pupil  the  subject  that  is  to  be  the 
matter  of  consideration.  It  brings  up  that  subject  in  the 
form  of  a  question.  That  question  distinctly  raises  the 
point  to  be  considered.  It  invites  special  attention  to  it. 
It  secures  special  attention  to  it.  It  fixes  special  atten- 
tion on  it ;  and  further  questions  may  keep  the  attention 
fixed  on  it  until  it  has  been  fully  explained  and  fully 
understood.  The  other  usual  method  of  instruction,  the 
formal  continuous  discourse,  does  not  so  certainly  secure 
these  ends,  so  necessary  to  thorough  work.  It  may,  in- 
deed, as  distinctly  raise  the  point  to  be  considered ;  but 
it  does  not  so  certainly  secure  attention  to  it.  It  may 
find  the  mind  of  the  pupil  in  a  passive  state,  indifferent 

'  For  fuller  information  on  this  subject,  see  the  larger  Ency- 
clopedias, art.  '■'QsA.ec\nsvn.%"  Princeton  Review,  January,  1849; 
especially  TurnbuU's  Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday-School. 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.      123 

to  the  subject,  or  even  in  opposition  to  its  consideration ; 
but,  having  no  means  of  ascertaining  that  fact,  may  dismiss 
it  long  before  it  has  been  understood,  and  so  long  before 
the  very  object  of  the  attempted  instruction  has  been 
gained.  In  this  important  respect,  therefore,  the  cate- 
chetical method  is  much  the  better  for  thorough  instruc- 
tion. 

It  is  the  better  method,  also,  because  it  makes  the 
student  more  distinctly  conscious  of  any  ignorance  of  a 
given  subject  by  which  he  may  be  characterized.  We 
may  very  readily  imagine  that  we  are  quite  well  ac- 
quainted with  a  subject  until  we  are  closely  questioned 
in  regard  to  it.  Augustine  once  said,  in  regard  to  an 
important  point  in  theology,  that  he  thought  he  knew  all 
about  it  until  he  was  subjected  to  thorough  interroga- 
tion ;  but  that  he  then  discovered  that  he  knew  very 
little  about  it.  Questions  that  go  down  to  the  very  roots 
of  a  subject ;  that  pursue  it  in  all  its  different  ramifica- 
tions out  to  their  remotest  terminal  points ;  that  present 
it  in  all  its  different  aspects,  and  in  all  its  important  rela- 
tions to  other  correlated  subjects,  and  in  all  its  practical 
bearings  on  religious  experience,  and  character  and  life, 
such  questions,  persevered  in  as  long  as  may  be  neces- 
sary, are  absolutely  essential  to  ascertain  whether  a 
subject  is  fully  understood.  And  if  there  be  any  indis- 
tinctness of  view  in  reference  to  it,  or  any  ignorance  in 
regard  to  it  of  any  kind  whatever,  these  questions  will 
make  the  student  conscious  of  the  fact,  and  will  reveal 
to  him  his  need  of  futher  information ;  and  will,  also, 
enable  the  teacher  to  perceive  just  where  further  efforts 
for  his  benefit  should  be  made.  The  public  continuous 
discourse  does  not  possess  these  advantages  to  anything 
like  the  same  degree.  It  must,  indeed,  be  diligently 
used,  for  it  is  at  first  the  only  means  we  have  of  arrest- 


124  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

ing  the  attention  of  men ;  of  exciting  their  interest  in 
the  truth ;  and  of  bringing  them  under  its  influence  and 
within  the  reach  of  the  church ;  and,  therefore,  accord- 
ing to  the  divine  command,  we  should  employ  it  for 
these  purposes,  with  all  constancy  and  earnestness.  But 
when  those  points  have  been  gained,  if  we  would  ground 
men  in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;  establish  them  in 
the  faith ;  bring  them  fully  under  the  sanctifying  influ- 
ence of  the  great  essential  doctrines  of  revelation,  and 
thoroughly  equip  them  for  every  good  work,  and  for 
efficiency  in  communicating  those  doctrines  to  others, 
we  must  make  use  of  the  method  now  insisted  on — the 
catechetical  method — the  method  by  question  and  answer. 
This  fact  is  too  plain  to  need  further  enforcement. 

This  suggests  another  reason  why  this  is  the  best 
method  of  teaching  :  it  furnishes  the  best  opportunity 
for  accurate  instruction.  Nothing  but  the  truth  is  of 
any  value  anywhere.  Nothing  but  the  truth  is  of  any 
value  in  science  or  in  philosophy ;  and,  especially,  nothing 
but  the  truth  is  of  any  value  in  religion.  Nothing  but 
the  truth  can  enlighten  the  mind.  Nothing  but  the 
truth  can  awaken  the  conscience  and  purge  it  from  dead 
works  to  serve  the  living  God.  Nothing  but  the  truth 
can  exert  a  sanctifying  influence  on  the  soul.  Nothing 
but  the  truth  can  be  a  lamp  to  the  feet,  and  a  light  to  the 
path.  Nothing  but  the  truth  can  we  expect  the  Spirit  of 
truth  to  employ  to  transform  us  into  his  image  who  is 
the  truth.  What  men  need,  then,  is  "  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  Any  admixture  of 
error  with  the  truth  is  as  injurious  to  the  soul  as  the  ad- 
mixture of  poison  with  wholesome  food  is  to  the  body. 
The  catechetical  method  of  teaching,  it  is  evident,  can 
secure  this  end  much  more  perfectly  than  any  other. 

By  questions  and  answers  alone  can  the  teacher  find  out 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.       125 

in  regard  to  any  given  subject  what  the  pupil  knows, 
and  what  he  does  not  know,  and  so  by  that  method  only 
can  he  ascertain  what  instruction  is  needed  to  give  a 
scriptural  view  of  it.  The  public  discourse  may  give 
accurate  instruction,  but  it  has  no  means  of  securing  an 
accurate  reception  of  the  instruction.  The  consequence 
is  that  there  are  multitudes  in  our  churches  who  have 
been  sitting  under  that  kind  of  instruction  for  years — 
ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty  years — -who  yet-could  not  accu- 
rately define  a  single  subject  which,  during  that  long 
period  of  time,  they  have  so  often  heard  discussed.  If 
closely  questioned,  they  could  not  tell  what  faith  is,  or 
repentance,  or  sin,  or,  guilt,  or  justification,  or  sanctifica- 
tion.  Their  views  on  these,  and  on  all  other  important 
subjects,  are  indistinct,  incomplete,  insufficient,  perhaps, 
for  their  own  safety ;  certainly  insufficient  for  their  com- 
fort and  for  their  efficiency  in  communicating  the  truth 
to  others.  Thus  the  public  discourse  may  give  accurate 
instruction,  but  it  has  no  means  of  securing  an  accu- 
rate comprehension  of  it.  The  catechetical  method  has. 
When  the  truth  on  any  subject  has  been  stated,  by  ques- 
tions and  answers  the  teacher  may  ascertain  whether  it 
has  been  understood,  and  if  it  has  not  been,  he  may  con- 
tinue those  questions  and  answers  until  it  has  been  fully 
mastered.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  this  method  furnishes 
by  far  the  best  method  for  securing  accurate  instruction. 
Still  another  reason  why  this  is  the  best  method  is,  that 
it  furnishes  the  best  opportunity  for  an  efficient  practical 
application  of  the  truth  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
learner.  By  answers  to  quCvStions,  the  teacher  may  find 
out  as  accurately  as  is  possible  just  what  is  the  state  of 
the  mind  and  heart  of  the  pupil,  and  so  find  out  just  what 
ministrations  he  needs.  He  may  rightly  divide  the  word 
of  truth.     He  may  give  to  each  one  his  portion  in  due 


126  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

season.  He  may  impress  on  the  attention  the  warnings 
of  the  Scriptures  just  when  he  sees  they  are  needed;  the 
threatenings,  or  the  promises,  just  when  he  sees  they  are 
needed ;  all  their  great  lessons,  just  when  they  are  seen 
to  be  requisite  for  the  wants  of  the  soul.  Thus  this 
method  furnishes  an  opportunity  for  the  most  effectual 
personal  application  of  the  truth  to  each  individual  that 
we  can  possibly  enjoy. 

Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  this  is  the  best 
method  of  religious  instruction.  Better  than  any  other 
method,  it  secures  attention  to  the  subject  to  be  consid- 
ered, and,  more  distinctly  than  any  other,  makes  the 
learner  conscious  of  his  intellectual  and  spiritual  wants ; 
and,  besides,  furnishes  the  best  opportunity  we  can  have 
for  giving  accurate  instruction,  and  for  making  a  season- 
able and  successful  application  of  the  truth  to  the  per- 
sonal wants  of  those  placed  under  our  care.  A7id  it  is  in 
such  consideratio7is  as  these  that  we  find  tiie  explanatio7i  of  ^ 
the  great  histo7  icalfact  that  this  method  of  teaching  has  had 
the  unqtialified  endorsement  of  the  chiirch  in  all  periods  of 
her  history,  and  that  God  has  made  so  much  use  of  it  hi  the 
extension  of  the  ki^igdom  of  his  Son. 

Of  course,  in  these  remarks,  I  am  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  in  the  slightest  degree  depreciating  the  public 
preaching  of  the  word.  That  is  absolutely  necessary, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  arrest  the  attention  of  men ;  to 
arouse  their  interest;  "to  convince  of  sin,  and  of  right- 
eousness, and  of  judgment  to  come,"  and  to  bring  men 
within  the  reach  of  the  church,  and  under  the  influence 
of  further  agencies  that  may  be  employed  for  their 
spiritual  good ;  and  for  these  purposes  the  gospel  is  to  be 
preached  with  all  diligence,  "in  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son," as  the  Saviour  commands.  But  when  that  has 
been  successfully  accomplished,  if  we  would   establish 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.      127 

them  in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  properly  train 
them  for  future  usefulness,  in  their  turn  to  make  the 
gospel  known  to  others,  and  efficiently  to  labor  for  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  into  which  they  have  been 
brought,  we  must  employ  the  method  now  insisted  on — 
the  catechetical  method — that  the  church  has  always 
found  most  useful  for  this  purpose.  This  has  always 
been  the  theory  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  church. 

But  the  excellence  of  this  method  is  not  simply  a 
matter  of  theory.  It  has  in  a  remarkable  way  been  con- 
firmed by  the  unmistakable  experience  of  the  church. 
Here  a  multitude  of  facts  might  be  mentioned ;  but  there 
is  time  for  only  two  or  three. 

One  is  that  the  great  leaders  of  the  church  have 
always  relied  upon  it  as  the  best  means  for  the  indoctri- 
nation of  the  people  and  for  fitting  them  for  usefulness. 
Luther  made  great  use  of  it  for  this  purpose.  He  lifted 
up  his  voice  and  proclaimed  to  the  world,  then  awaken- 
ing out  of  a  long  sleep  in  ignorance  and  sin,  with  an 
energy  with  which  he  hardly  proclaimed  any  other 
truth,  "Children  are  the  seed  of  the  church,  and  for  the 
church's  sake  Christian  schools"  (catechetical  schools) 
"must  be  established  and  maintained."  So  decided  was 
he  in  his  views  on  this  subject  that  he  declared  that  no 
man  was  fit  to  become  a  minister,  or  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  enter  the  sacred  office,  who  had  not  already  proved 
himself  to  be  a  competent  catechetical  teacher.  Calvin 
held  similar  views,  and  Zwingli  and  Beza,  in  Switzer- 
land ;  Knox,  in  Scotland ;  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  in  Eng- 
land, and  Usher,  in  Ireland.  They  all  relied  upon  this 
method  of  instruction  for  securing  satisfactory  and  last- 
ing results  as  upon  no  other. 

Another  fact  is  that  the  excellence  of  this  method  is 
confirmed  in  a  very  instructive  way  by  the  testimony  of 


128  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  enemies  of  evangelical  truth.  The  Council  of  Trent 
said  ' '  the  heretics  have  chiefly  made  use  of  catechisms 
to  corrupt  the  minds  of  Christians,"  thus  recognizing 
and  asserting  the  great  success  with  which  they  had 
been  employed  for  instructing  the  people  ;  and,  therefore, 
that  council  decreed  that  this  agency  should  be  met  and 
counteracted  by  a  similar  agency  amongst  their  own 
people ;  and  a  catechism  was  prepared  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  the  Pope  himself,  and  all  the  teachers 
of  the  church  were  specifically  charged  to  see  to  it  that 
it  was  learned  by  the  people ;  and  from  that  day  down  to 
this  that  church  has  not  failed  to  make  use  of  it  to 
retain  her  children  under  her  control.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation,  that  church,  indeed,  observing  what 
advantages  were  being  gained  by  means  of  catechisms, 
addressed  itself  to  similar  work  with  greater  energy 
than  ever  before,  and  it  is  the  statement  of  one  of  their 
principal  historians  that  by  that  means  it,  in  a  single 
generation,  arrested  the  reform  movement,  and  that  it 
has  ever  since  by  the  same  means  substantially  confined 
that  movement  to  the  geographical  limits  which  it  had 
then  reached.  In  this  remarkable  manner  does  the 
Church  of  Rome  attest  the  efficiency  of  this  method  of 
instruction. 

Still  another  fact,  bearing  on  this  subject,  is  that  all 
the  evangelical  churches  that  have  maintained  their  ex- 
istence in  spite  of  the  persecutions  to  which,  at  different 
periods  in  their  history,  they  have  been  subjected,  have 
done  it  by  indoctrinating  their  children  hi  a  knowledge 
of  the  truth  by  the  catechetical  process.  In  the  thir- 
teenth century,  for  instance,  Rome  sent  an  emissary  to 
the  Waldenses  to  ascertain  wdiat  might  be  done  to  win 
them  to  its  fold.  When  he  returned  he  reported  that  by 
means  of  catechetical  schools  the  people  had   been  so 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.       129 

thoroughly  established  in  their  views  of  truth  that  they 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  listen  to  anything  else. 

Thus  it  is  demorfstrated,  both  by  theory  and  exper- 
ience, both  by  the  testimony  of  the  enemies  and  of  the 
friends  of  the  gospel,  that  the  best  means  of  imparting 
thorough  and  lasting  religious  instruction,  and  of  training 
the  children  and  youth  of  the  church  for  future  useful- 
ness in  her  service,  is  the  method  which  I  now  advocate 
— the  interlocutory  method  of  question  and  answer.  If, 
then,  we  wish  to  inake  use  of  the  best  method  for  acco7nplish- 
ing  these  great  ends  amongst  our  people,  this  is  the  methoa 
which  zve  must  employ. 

And  now,  in  the  next  place,  I  shall  endeavor  to  show 
that  in  our  Catechisms  we  have  already  provided,  in  the 
best  possible  form,  the  matter  necessary  for  this  great 
work.     Several  facts  will  make  this  evident : 

One  is,  that  our  Catechisms  were  most  carefully  pre- 
pared by  men  fully  competent  for  the  task.  It  may  very 
truly  be  said  that  a  body  of  men  more  competent  for  the 
work  could  not  have  been  brought  together.  It  was  not 
to  them  a  new  work;  a  work  of  which  they  had  no 
knowledge;  in  which  they  had  no  experience.  As 
already  stated,  a  number  of  them  had  already,  before  the 
Assembly  met,  prepared  catechisms  of  great  excellence 
for  the  instruction  of  their  people.  These  furnished  a 
basis  on  which  to  begin  their  work ;  and  then  they  had 
to  assist  them  all  the  great  catechisms  of  the  Reformers, 
the  catechisms  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  of  Ursinus,  and  of 
a  number  of  others.  And  they  did  their  work  most 
laboriously  and  carefully.  Early  in  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly  they  appointed  a  committee,  composed  of  men 
who  were  known  to  have  had  most  experience  in  such 
work  and  to  possess  most  ability  for  it,  to  begin  the  un- 
dertaking.    Soon  afterwards   that  committee  reported; 


130  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

but  its  report  was  not  accepted.  Another  committee, 
somewhat  differently  constituted,  was  appointed.  After 
much  consideration,  it  reported  the  tesults  of  its  labors  ; 
but  still  the  Assembly  was  not  satisfied.  Still  another 
committee  was  appointed,  its  composition  again  some- 
what changed.  After  long  deliberation,  this  committee 
presented  a  catechism  so  acceptable  that  it  was  approved 
almost  to  the  end,  when  again  the  Assembly  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  result,  and  determined  to  make  still 
another  effort  to  obtain  something  more  perfect.  A 
fourth  committee  was  constituted,  its  composition  again 
somewhat  altered ;  and  that  committee  was  instructed  to 
prepare  two  catechisms — one  larger,  for  more  mature 
catechumens ;  the  other  smaller,  for  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  families  and  congregations.  That  committee  re- 
ported, and  the  Assembly  adopted  the  two  Catechisms 
which  we  now  have  in  our  possession.  In  this  way,  for 
about  five  years,  committees  of  the  Assembly,  and  the 
Assembly  itself,  labored  on  these  two  little  books.  Not 
a  sentence  was  admitted  into  them  until  after  the  most 
protracted  and  thorough  consideration.  Not  a  word  was 
allowed  a  place  in  them  until  it  had  been  subjected  to 
the  closest  scrutiny,  and  had  proved  itself  to  be  just  the 
right  word  to  express  the  meaning  intended.  It  is  prob- 
able that  there  is  not  another  catechism  in  existence  on 
which  one-tenth  of  the  time  and  labor  and  abilit)'  and 
learning  was  expended  that  was  employed  in  the  pro- 
duction of  these  two  with  which  God  has  so  highly 
favored  our  denomination.  They  are  the  work,  not  of 
one  man,  as  Luther's  and  Calvin's;  nor  of  two  men,  as 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was ;  nor  of  four,  as  was  the 
catechism  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  but  they  are  the  pro- 
duct of  some  five  years  of  the  most  earnest  and  prayerful 
deliberations  of  the  whole  Westminster  Assembly  !     If^ 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.       131 

then,  it  is  possible  for  the  most  conscientious  eflforts  of 
most  competent  men  to  prepare  suitable  catechisms  for 
the  religious  instruction  of  the  people,  we  ought  to  have 
them  in  the  little  books  we  now  possess. 

But  their  value  is  further  seen  in  the  fact  that  they 
contain  all  the  essential  truths  of  the  gospel.  The  truths 
of  the  Scriptures  in  regard  to  God  and  his  attributes, 
the  law  and  its  penalties,  sin  and  its  consequences, 
Christ  and  his  salvation,  the  Spirit  and -his  work  and 
graces,  life  and  its  duties,  death  and  its  issues,  eternity 
and  its  final  rewards  for  the  righteous,  and  its  final 
retribution  for  the  wicked ;  these,  and  all  other  doc- 
trines that  must  be  known  and  believed  in  order  that 
men  may  be  saved  and  fitted  for  full  usefulness  in  the 
divine  service,  these  little  books  contain,  as  any  one 
may  see  who  gives  them  a  careful  examination.  They 
are  thus  complete  manuals  of  the  great  fundamental 
doctrines  of  divine  revelation  ;  we  think  we  have  suf- 
ficient reason  for  believing  the  most  complete  in  exist- 
ence. Not  onh^  however,  do  they  contain  all  the  essen- 
tial truths  of  religion,  but  they  contain  them  in  the  most 
accurate  form.  Although  these  Catechisms  have  been  in 
existence  two  centuries  and  a  half,  and  although,  for 
that  long  period  of  time,  they  have  been  subjected  to 
all  the  severe  and  decisive  tests  of  the  experience  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  closest  scrutiny  of  her  most  perfect 
scholarship,  no  change  in  the  form  of  the  statement  of 
any  one  of  their  great  doctrines  has  ever  been  made. 
No  suggested  change  has  ever  appeared  to  the  church  to 
be  of  sufiicient  value  to  deserve  serious  consideration ! 
How  grateful  we  should  be  to  the  great  Head  of  the 
church  that  he  has  graciously  placed  in  our  hands  so 
perfect  a  means  for  training  up  our  children  and  youth 
in  "the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord!  " 


132  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Another  excellence  that  our  Catechisms  possess  is  that 
they  not  only  thus  state  the  essential  truths  of  religion 
with  so  marvellous  accuracy,  but  that  they  so  state  them, 
that,  while  expressing  them  clearly  in  a  positive  form, 
they,  at  the  same  time,  negatively,  at  every  important 
point,  guard  against  the  most  serious  errors  by  which,  at 
those  points,  they  have  ever  been  assailed.  Almost  any 
answer  to  the  questions  of  the  Catechisms  might  be  taken 
as  an  illustration  of  this  fact.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
answer  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  to  the  question,  "What 
is  justification?"  "Justification  is  an  act  of  God's  free 
grace,  wherein  he  pardoneth  all  our  sins,  and  accepteth 
us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  alone."  It 
is  an  "«<:/,"  thus  guarding  against  the  error  that  it  is  a 
process,  sometimes  long  protracted.  An  act  of  "  God's 
free  grace,''  guarding  against  the  error  that  it  is  by 
works.  "Wherein  he  pardoneth  all onr  sins,"  guarding 
against  the  error  that  pardon  is  only -partial,  some  sins 
being  reserved  for  expiation  by  penance  and  the  fires  ot 
purgatory.  "And  accepteth  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight " 
— already  righteous — guarding  against  the  error  that  he 
accepts  us  only  that  we  may  afterwards  become  right- 
eous. "0?ily  for  the  righteousness  of  Christ,"  guarding 
against  the  error  that  our  own  righteousness  forms  a 
part  of  the  ground  on  which  justification  is  based. 
"Only  for  the  righteousness  of  Christ  impiited  \o  us," 
guarding  against  all  the  errors  held,  that  his  right- 
eousness avails  for  us  in  some  other  way.  "And  re- 
ceived by  faith  alone,"  guarding  against  the  error  that 
any  other  grace  is  necessary  for  the  purpose.  Thus,  in 
this  answer,  not  only  is  the  truth  in  regard  to  justifica- 
tion stated  with  sufficient  fulness  for  the  instruction  of 
our  children  and  youth,  but  it  is  so  stated  that,  at  every 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.      133 

important  point,  the  learner  is  guarded  against  every 
serious  error  with  which  at  those  points  it  has  ever  been 
assaulted.  This  is  an  excellence  of  our  Catechisms  of 
great  value.  It  equips  our  people  with  scriptural  tests, 
in  convenient  form,  and  of  easy  application,  by  which 
every  erroneous  doctrine  with  which  they  may  be  con- 
fronted may  be  tried. 

Still  another  excellence  of  our  Catechisms  is,  that  they 
not  only  state  the  truth  in  regard  to  every  essential  doc- 
trine of  God's  word,  but  state  it  in  the  form  of  a  complete 
system^  every  doctrine  in  its  right  place  and  in  its  right 
relations  to  other  doctrines.  This  is  hue  of  no  other  cate- 
chism. Yet  it  is  a  point  in  their  favor  of  great  import- 
ance. It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  truths  of  the 
Scriptures,  although  scattered  hither  and  thither  over 
their  pages  without  regard  to  scientific  order,  and 
although  all  that  is  taught  on  any  important  subject 
cannot  be  found,  perhaps,  in  any  one  passage,  but  must 
be  found  in  a  number  of  diflferent  and  widely-separated 
passages,  nevertheless  those  truths,  when  collected  out 
of  the  book,  and  brought  together,  and  rightly  adjusted 
one  to  another,  form  a  system  of  truth,  a  divine  system, 
more  harmonious  and  perfect  than  any  other  that  was 
ever  excogitated  by  human  learning  and  genius.  It  is 
also  to  be  remembered  that  no  truth  can  be  fully  under- 
stood and  appreciated  until  it  is  seen,  not  only  in  its  own 
light,  but  in  the  light  of  all  the  other  truths  to  which  it 
stands  related.  The  death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  for  in- 
stance, looked  at  only  in  itself,  would  have  been  regarded 
as  a  very  insignificant  event.  It  would  have  been  noticed 
only  for  a  moment  by  only  a  few  as  the  pitiable  fate  of  a 
poor  Jewish  peasant  of  extraordinary,  but  most  visionary, 
pretensions,  under  the  deserved  penalty  of  violated  law. 
But  when  looked  at,  not  in  itself  alone,  but  in  the  light 


134  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

of  all  correlated  truths,  how  different  does  it  appear !  So 
of  all  the  essential  truths  of  religion.  It  is  a  great  ex- 
cellence of  our  Catechisms,  then,  that  they  not  only  con- 
tain the  fundamental  doctrines  of  revelation,  but  that 
they  present  them  in  the  form  of  a  system,  in  which 
every  truth  can  be  contemplated,  not  only  in  its  own 
light,  but  in  the  additional,  and  clearer,  and  only  suffi- 
cient light  of  all  correlated  truths ;  and  thus  can  be  so 
seen  as  to  be  most  thoroughly  understood  and  most  fully 
appreciated. 

Such  is  only  an  imperfect  exhibition  of  the  merits  of 
our  Catechisms.  Enough  has  been  said,  however,  I 
trust,  to  make  it  plain  that  in  them  we  have  furnished 
to  our  hands,  in  the  best  possible  form,  the  matter  neces- 
sary to  indoctrinate  our  people  with  the  great  truths  of 
religion  by  that  process  which  has  received  the  approba- 
tion of  God's  people  in  all  the  past,  and  which  God  has 
always  so  much  blessed. 

It  has  been  objected  to  these  Catechisms,  indeed,  that 
it  is  difi&cult  for  young  people  to  understand  them ;  and, 
no  doubt,  this  is  true.  But  it  is  by  no  mea7is  impossible ; 
and,  therefore,  the  only  question  is,  are  the  truths  which 
they  contain  worth  the  effort  necessary  to  acquire  them? 
Human  ability  has  never  yet  succeeded  in  stating  them 
correctly  in  an  easier  form.  Unless  our  young  people, 
then,  master  them  in  this  form,  they  must  remain  igno- 
rant of  them.  Is  that  alternative,  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, to  be  preferred  to  the  labor  necessary  to  acquire 
them?  Besides,  eveti  if  in  early  life  they  do  not  fully 
understand  them,  they  may  rlsadily  learn  enough  abund- 
antly to  compensate  them  for  all  the  time  and  effort  they 
may  expend  on  them ;  and  clearer  views  will  certainly 
come  later. 

It  is  also  objected  to  these  Catechisms  that  it  is  diffi- 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.       135 

cult  to  remember  them ;  and  no  doubt  that,  too,  is  true. 
But  it  is  not  more  difl&cult  than  to  remember  a  number 
of  lessons  taught  in  our  secular  schools,  which  we  re- 
quire our  children  to  remember,  and  which  they  must 
remember  if  they  would  be  fitted  for  the  secular  duties  of 
life.  Moreover,  memory  needs  training.  What  better 
training  can  be  given  it  than  by  storing  up  in  it  those 
great  facts  and  truths  of  God's  word  that  are  "able  to 
make  them  wise  unto  salvation  ' '  ?  Alas  !  for  the  chil- 
dren whose  parents  excuse  them  from  so  necessary  and 
valuable  a  study  on  grounds  so  trivial ! 

But  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  tax  your  patience  long 
enough  briefly  to  point  out  some  reasons  why  we  should 
use  these  Catechisms  for  the  great  purpose  for  which 
they  were  intended  and  for  which  they  are  so  eminently 
suited : 

1.  Unless  they  are  learned  in  childhood  and  youth, 
the  strong  probability  is  that  they  will  never  be  learned 
at  all.  Not  one  in  five  hundred  of  our  people,  perhaps, 
learns  them  later  in  life.  They  must  be  learned,  then, 
early  in  life,  or  never.  Are  we  willing  for  the  latter 
alternative?  Are  we  willing  that  our  children  shall 
never  accurately  know  the  great  truths  of  religion? 
Are  we  willing  that  they  shall  never  accurately  know 
what  is  meant  by  such  doctrines  as  faith,  and  repentance, 
and  justification,  and  sanctification ?  Would  that  be 
wise  ?     Would  that  be  safe  ? 

2.  We  cannot  too  early  impress  the  great  truths  of  the 
Catechisms  on  their  minds  and  hearts.  We  should  never 
forget  that  in  childhood  and  youth  the  soul  is  most  sus- 
ceptible of  deep  and  lasting  impressions.  In  our  great 
museums  we  sometimes  see  stone  slabs  with  the  marks 
of  raindrops  on  them  that  fell  before  man  had  anj^  exis- 
tence, and  the  impressions  of  the  feet  of  tiny  birds  that 


136  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

walked  over  them  when  time  was  yet  young.  The  ex- 
planation is,  that  those  slabs  were  once  in  a  formative 
state,  so  soft  that  objects  so  light  would  thus  impress 
them ;  and  then,  as  time  passed  by,  those  slabs,  with 
those  impressions  on  them,  hardened  into  the  solid  rock ; 
and  thus  those  impressions  became  as  enduring  as  the 
slabs  themselves  are.  So,  in  childhood  and  youth,  the 
souls  of  our  children  are  most  susceptible  of  impres- 
sions for  good  or  evil ;  and  then,  as  the  years  elapse, 
those  souls,  with  those  impressions  on  them,  indurate; 
and  thus  those  impressions  become  as  lasting,  as  ever- 
lasting, it  may  be,  as  the  souls  themselves.  How  im- 
portant it  is,  then,  that  these  earliest  and  most  enduring 
impressions  should  be  made  in  behalf  of  right  and  truth 
and  God  by  the  inculcation  of  the  great  truths  of  our 
Catechisms !  How  important  that  those  truths  should, 
in  the  very  beginning  of  their  histories,  be  laid  down 
deep  around  the  ver>^  roots  of  their  young  natures,  that 
up  out  of  them  their  future  characters  may  grow,  and 
that  by  them  their  future  lives  may  be  determined  and 
controlled ! 

3.  It  is  necessary  to  our  success  as  a  denomination 
that  our  Catechisms  be  intelligently  and  faithfully  taught. 
Our  doctrines  are  constantly  and  bitterly  assailed.  In 
much  of  the  literature  of  the  day,  especially  in  that  kind 
which,  unfortunately,  our  children  too  much  read,  they 
are  caricatured  as  severe,  harsh,  unreasonable,  anti- 
quated ;  as  belonging  to  a  remote  and  ignorant  past ;  as 
being  entirely  out  of  harmonj^  with  the  progress  that  has 
been  made  in  better  views  of  the  benevolence,  of  the 
divine  nature,  of  the  dignity  of  man,  and  of  the  vast- 
ness  and  freeness  of  redeeming  love.  Multitudes  of 
our  people  do  not  know  how  to  meet  these  assaults. 
They  do  not  know  what  to  say  in  answer  to  the  attacks 


Nature  and  Value  of  the  Catechisms.       137 

that  are  made  on  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God ;  the  doctrine  of 
the  divine  decrees ;  of  predestination  and  election  ;  of  the 
total  depravity  of  the  human  race ;  of  the  necessity  of 
the  regeneration  of  the  Spirit,  and  of  the  perseverance  of 
the  saints.  Those  who  make  these  assaults  see  that 
they  do  not  know  what  to  say ;  and  this  fact  invites  and 
provokes  additional  assaults.  Nor  is  this  the  only  and 
the  worst  consequence.  Seeing  that  so  many  of  our 
people  do  not  know  how  to  defend  the  doctrines  which 
we  hold,  they  have  not  that  respect  for  us,  as  a  de- 
nomination, that  is  necessary  to  give  us  such  influence 
over  them,  and  over  the  world,  as  we  must  have,  if  we 
would  win  them  to  our  views,  and  do  the  work  amongst 
them  that  our  Saviour  requires  at  our  hands.  Every  in- 
telligent observer  in  our  churches  must  see  that  this  is 
true  to  a  most  painful  extent.  It  has  been  true  long 
enough.  It  is  high  time  that  this  state  of  things  were 
brought  to  an  end  ;  and  I  trust  that  as  one  result  of  these 
celebrations  of  the  formation  of  our  Standards  our  min- 
isters and  elders  and  deacons  and  intelligent  members 
will  arouse  themselves,  and  by  a  proper  inculcation  of 
our  doctrines  bring  it  to  an  end!  Why  cannot  the  min- 
isters and  officers  in  our  denomination  so  instruct  our 
people  as  to  these  great  doctrines,  that  in  every  church 
there  shall  be  a  number,  at  least,  who  shall  know  how 
to  maintain  them  against  any  of  the  popular  assaults 
that  are  so  frequently  made  upon  them?  We  shall 
never  succeed  as  we  may  and  ought  until  this  is  done. 

4.  We  should  diligently  teach  the  doctrines  of  our 
Catechisms,  because  if  faithfully  inculcated  they  will  do 
in  the  future  what  they  have  already  so  often  done  in  the 
past.  In  former  years  they  have  made  great  and  good 
churches — churches  as  great  and  good  as  any  the  world 


138  .  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

has  yet  seen.  They  have  made  great  and  good  denomi- 
nations— denominations  as  great  and  good  as  any  that 
have  yet  marked  the  world's  history.  They  have  made 
great  and  good  men  and  women — men  and  women  as 
great  and  good  as  any  with  which  God  has  yet  blessed 
the  human  race.  They  have  purified  and  elevated  and 
ennobled  all  the  institutions  of  the  world — the  family, 
the  state,  the  church.  They  have  brought  to  bear  upon 
them  as  beneficent  an  influence  as  any  to  which  they 
have  ever  been  subjected.  No  sysiejn  of  doctrines  has 
such  a  history  for  good  as  ours  has.  Search  and  see.  But 
what  these  doctrines  have  done  in  the  past  they  may  do 
again  in  the  future.  Let  us  teach  them,  then,  as  we 
ought,  and  our  "Zion  will  arise,  and  shine,  her  light 
having  come, ' '  and  God  will  honor  us  with  a  noble  part 
in  disseminating  his  truth,  and  in  taking  this  poor  apos- 
tate world  captive,  and  in  bringing  it  to  the  Saviour's 
feet,  and  laying  it  down  there,  the  splendid  trophy  of  his 
redeeming  grace ! 


REV.  EUGKNE  DANIEL,  1).   D. 


VI. 

CHURCH   POLITY  AND  WORSHIP— EMPHASIZING 
THEIR  RELATION  TO  WORSHIP. 

BY 

Rev.  EUGENE  DANIEL,  D.  D., 

PASTOR    OF    THE    FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    RALEIGH,    N.   C. 


139 


ANALYSIS. 

Introductory  references  to  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer. — The  topic 
stated  as  given.— This  theme  covers  polity  and  worship  and  their 
underlying  doctrine. — The  sufficiency  and  sovereignty  of  God 
the  unifying  principle  of  the  Confession  and  Catechisms,  the 
Form  of  Government  and  the  Directory  of  Worship. — The  con- 
ception of  God  in  the  Confession  and  Catechisms. — The  funda- 
mental principle  of  church  government  the  sufficiency  and  sov- 
ereignty of  God  in  Christ.— Christ  the  alone  King  and  Head. — 
This  in  opposition  to  the  papacy  a-nd  to  Erastia-nism. — This  sov- 
ereignty of  Christ  variously  realized. — In  his  gathering  into  one 
his  elect. — In  his  ordaining  the  Bible  as  the  alone  law  of  the  king- 
dom.— In  his  prescribing  therein  a  government,  in  the  hands  of 
officers,  distinct  from  the  civil  magistrate. — In  his  making  things 
not  commanded  forbidden. — Doctrine  of  "circumstances." — This 
sovereignty  further  realized  in  worship. — Christ  the  Master  of 
all  assemblies. — Ordains  all  sacraments  and  ordinances. — In- 
spirer  of  prayer  and  praise. — Author  of  all  effectual  preaching. — 
His  Spirit  the  only  Vicegerent. — Sovereignty  finally  realized  in 
subduing  all  enemies,  in  destroying  death,  in  coming  in  glory, 
in  reigning  as  Theanthropos  forever. — Corollaries. — First,  be- 
vs^are  of  that  taproot  of  sorrows,  complications  of  church  and 
state. — Second,  God  himself,  by  his  Spirit  armed  with  his  word, 
and  by  his  amazing  providence,  had  inwrought  his  sufficiency 
and  sovereignty  into  the  Westminster  Standards. — Doctrine, 
polity  and  worship  one  sublime  doxology. 


140 


VI. 

CHURCH   POLITY  AND   WORSHIP— EMPHASIZING 
THEIR  RELATION  TO  DOCTRINE. 


MODERATOR,  Fathers  and  Brethren  of  the 
Assembly  :  You  will  lend  me  your  sympathy 
when  I  say  that  I  find  the  responsibility  of  this  hour  al- 
most crushingly  oppressive.  It  were  a  matter  of  grave 
import,  at  any  time  and  under  any  circumstances,  to 
stand  in  this  historic  place,  to  look  into  the  faces  now 
upturned  to  mine,  and  to  open  the  lips  in  this  venerable 
presence.  But  beyond  these  not  unusual  considerations, 
there  are  others  of  moment  connected  with  the  discharge 
of  the  duty  of  the  hour,  to  which  I  may  briefly  advert. 

A  few  weeks  ago  there  fell  beneath  my  eye  the  pro- 
gramme of  exercises  in  celebration  of  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Westminster  Assembly. 
Glancing  over  it  I  saw  that  a  very  prominent  topic  of  dis- 
cussion had  been  assigned  to  that  eminent  and  honored 
servant  of  the  church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  and, 
to  my  unfeigned  astonishment,  that  my  own  name  had 
been  written  beneath  his  as  that  of  his  alternate.  I  had 
just  had  time  to  congratulate  myself  that  the  kindness  thus 
shown  me  by  your  Committee  of  Arrangements  might  be 
gratefully  accepted  without  any  burden  of  responsibility, 
when  the  thought  of  these  easy  honors  was  quickly  dis- 
pelled by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Dr.  Palmer,  which 
was  full  of  sadness  for  myself  and  of  disappointment  for 
you.  The  distinguished  principal  stated  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  him  to  attend  this  meeting  of  the  Gene- 

141 


142  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

ral  Assembly ;  that  his  vision  was  so  indistinct  as  to  make 
it  inexpedient  for  Ijim  to  prepare  the  paper  expected  of 
him ;  that  he  desired  this  summer  to  make  one  last  effort 
to  recover  his  failing  eyesight,  and  that  if  this  should 
not  be  successful,  he  would  resign  himself  to  the  will  of 
the  Lord,  and  preach  on  in  the  dark  until  it  should  please 
God  to  open  his  eyes  ' '  to  the  celestial  glories  of  the 
upper  day."  Upon  receiving  this  letter  I  at  once  wrote 
to  Dr.  Palmer,  entreating  him  to  prepare  the  address  by 
dictation,  and  assuring  him  that  I  would  covet  no  higher 
honor  than  that  of  reading  it  in  his  name.  But  there 
came  a  quick  response,  again  asking  that  I  should  relieve 
the  principal  of  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  address. 
So  positive  was  the  declinature,  couched  in  language  of 
that  gracious  encouragement  to  myself  which  has  always 
characterized  this  eminent  man  in  his  dealings  with  his 
younger  brethren  in  the  ministry,  that  with  ' '  fear  and 
trembling ' '  I  consented  to  place  my  neck  beneath  the 
yoke  intended  for  him,  sorrowing,  most  of  all,  that  we 
must  to-day  miss  the  majesty  of  his  lofty  thought,  nor 
have  our  souls  uplifted  and  thrilled  by  the  sound  of  his 
eloquent  voice. 

The  subject  assigned  to  Dr.  Palmer  as  principal,  and 
coming  to  me  as  his  alternate,  is  given  in  these  words, 
' '  Church  Polity  and  Worship — Emphasizing  their  Rela- 
tion to  Doctrine." 

After  careful  reflection  I  have  concluded  that  it  is  ex- 
pected of  me  not  to  discuss  in  detail  the  practical  opera- 
tions of  church  government,  nor  the  particular  ordinances 
of  divine  worship,  but  rather,  to  discover  and  signalize 
those  general  principles  which  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly laid  as  the  foundation  stones  of  the  whole  polity  and 
worship  of  the  church  of  God,  and  especially,  to  hold  up 
to  view  any  one  cardinal  scriptural  truth  which   may 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  143 

bind  all  the  parts  of  our  Standards  together  in  organic 
unity.  I  believe  that  the  whole  system  of  doctrine,  of 
polity,  and  of  worship  is  one.  The  single  proposition 
which  I  shall  endeavor  to  illustrate  and  enforce  is  this : 
The  pervading  and  unifying  doctrine  of  the  Westminster 
Standards  is  that  of  the  sufficiency  and  sovereignty  of 
God,  whose  good  pleasure  is  the  source  of  the  church's 
being,  whose  will  is  her  law,  and  whose  glory  is  her  end. 
I.  Adverting  briefly  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  :  The 
able  and  distinguished  theologian  who  has  preceded  me, 
with  a  power  of  analysis  and  a  force  of  statement  pecu- 
liarly his  own,  has  already  sufficiently  emphasized  the 
theocentric  character  of  that  venerable  symbol.  I  shall, 
therefore,  content  myself  with  simply  calling  attention 
to  its  language  of  wonderful  sublimity,  wherein  it 
asserts,  with  almost  superhuman  power,  the  conception 
of  God  enshrined  within  the  reverent  souls  of  those  men 
whose  work  we  honor  now  after  these  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  Taking  the  shoes  from  off  our  feet  and 
bowing  the  heart  as  in  solemn  worship,  let  us  hear  these 
divines  as,  with  Bible  in  hand,  they  point  to  the  sacred 
page  and  tell  us  what  is  God :  ' '  There  is  but  one  only 
living  and  true  God,  who  is  infinite  in  being  and  perfec- 
tion ;  a  most  pure  Spirit,  invisible,  without  body,  parts, 
or  passions ;  immutable,  immense,  eternal,  incompre- 
hensible, almighty;  most  wise,  most  holy,  most  free, 
most  absolute ;  working  all  things  according  to  the 
counsel  of  his  own  immutable  and  most  righteous  will, 
for  his  own  glor}^ ;  most  loving,  gracious,  merciful,  long- 
suffering,  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  forgiving 
iniquity,  transgression  and  sin ;  the  re  warder  of  them 
that  diligently  seek  him ;  and  withal,  most  just  and 
terrible  in  his  judgments,  hating  all  sin,  and  who  will 
by  no  means  clear  the  guilty. ' ' 


144  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

"  God  hath  all  life,  glory,  goodness,  blessedness  in  and 
of  himself,  and  is  alone  in  and  unto  himself  all-sufBcient, 
not  standing  in  need  of  any  creatures  which  he  hath 
made,  nor  deriving  anj^  glory  from  them,  but  only  mani- 
festing his  own  glory  in,  by,  with,  and  upon  them ;  he 
is  the  alone  Fountain  of  all  being,  of  whom,  through 
whom,  and  to  whom  are  all  things ;  and  hath  most  sov- 
ereign dominion  over  them,  to  do  by  them,  for  thefn,  or 
upon  them,  whatsoever  himself  pleaseth.  In  his  sight 
all  things  are  open  and  manifest ;  his  knowledge  is 
infinite,  infallible,  and  independent  upon  the  creature, 
so  as  nothing  is  to  him  contingent  or  uncertain.  He  is 
most  holy  in  all  his  counsels,  in  all  his  works,  and  in 
all  his  commands.  To  him  is  due  from  angels  and  men 
and  every  other  creature  whatsoever  worship,  service,  or 
obedience  he  is  pleased  to  require  of  them." 

"God,  the  great  Creator  of  all  things,  doth  uphold, 
direct,  dispose,  and  govern  all  creatures,  actions,  and 
things,  from  the  greatest  even  to  the  least,  by  his  most 
wise  and  holy  Providence,  according  to  his  infallible 
foreknowledge  and  the  free  and  immutable  counsel  of 
his  own  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  wisdom, 
power,  justice,  goodness,  and  mercy."  And  so  speak 
the  Catechisms:  "God  is  a  Spirit,  in  and  of  himself 
infinite  in  being,  glory,  blessedness,  and  perfection; 
all-sufficient,  eternal,  unchangeable,  incomprehensible, 
everyv/here  present,  almighty,  knowing  all  things,  most 
wise,  most  holy,  most  just,  most  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth." 
The  climax  of  conciseness  is  attained  in  that  reputed 
adoring  outburst  of  Gillespie's  prayerful  soul :  "  O  thou, 
who  art  a  Spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable  in 
thy  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness, 
and  truth." 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  145 

Where  was  ever  found  as  noble  a  conception  of  God 
in  the  minds  of  uninspired  men?  Whenever  the  lovers 
of  all  that  is  rich  and  stately  in  the  liturgies  of  other 
churches  would  press  upon  us  their  claims  of  admiration, 
may  we  not  point  to  our  own  Standards,  and  ask  where, 
in  any  tongue,  may  be  purer  or  loftier  words  than  these 
in  which  the  best  scholarship  of  the  best  period  of  f2ng- 
lish  literature  exalts  Almighty  God  ?  And  not  only  here 
in  these  quotations  is  this  all-sufficiency  of  the  one 
supreme  Jehovah  expressed.  This  is  the  heart  and  soul 
of  every  cardinal  doctrine  taught.  The  Bible  is  of  value 
because  it  is  the  word  of  the  infallible  God.  Sin  is 
awful  because  it  is  defection  from  God.  The  highest 
end  of  Jesus  Christ's  life  and  death  is  the  conservation 
of  the  glory  of  God.  "The  decrees  of  God  are  his 
eternal  purpose,  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  will, 
whereby,  for  his  own  glory,  h4  hath  foreordained  what- 
soever comes  to  pass."  "  Sin  is  any  want  of  conformity 
unto  or  transgressioa  of  the  law  of  God."  Effectual 
calling  is  the  work  of  God's  Spirit,  Justification  and 
adoption  are  acts,  and  sanctification  is  the  work  of  God's 
free  grace.  The  full  happiness  of  the  redeemed  consists 
in  being  ' '  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoying  of 
God  to  all  eternity. ' '  Prayer  must  be  ' '  the  offering  up 
of  our  desires  unto  God,  for  things  agreeable  to  his 
will."  Unbelief  in  God,  God's  word,  God's  Son,  God's 
prescribed  way  of  salvation,  will  condemn  the  soul 
through  all  the  ages;  but  to  awaken  in  God's  likeness 
will  be  supernal  and  unending  joy.  Thus  in  the  doc- 
trinal Standards  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  God  is 
everywhere,  first,  midst,  last,  and  without  end. 

II.  Passing  out  of  the  realm  of  doctrine  into  the 
domain  of  church  government  and  worship,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  here  also  God's  sovereignty  is  the  solid  basis  of 


146  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

all  scriptural,  ecclesiastical  polity.  To  this  end  does  God 
bow  the  heavens  and  come  down  to  earth  in  the  second 
Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  that  he  may  be,  not  only 
the  Saviour,  but  also  the  ruler,  of  the  church.  The  chief 
corner-stone  in  the  system  of  government  proclaimed  by 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  known  as  Presbyterian, 
is  the  vital  and  all-comprehensive  truth  that  God  in- 
carnate, the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  alone  King  and 
Head  of  the  church.  "It  pleased  God,  in  his  eternal 
purpose,  to  choose  and  ordain  the  Lord  Jesus,  his  only 
begotten  Son,  to  be  the  mediator  between  God  and  man, 
the  Prophet,  Priest  and  King ;  the  Head  and  Saviour  of 
his  church;  the  heir  of  all  things  and  judge  of  the 
world."  .  .  .  "  The  Son  of  God,  being  very  and  eternal 
God,  of  one  substance  and  equal  with  the  Father,  did, 
when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  take  upon  him  man's 
nature,"  etc.  .  .  .  "Which  Person  is  very  God  and 
very  man,  and  yet  one  Christ,  the  only  mediator  between 
God  and  man."  .  .  .  "On  the  third  day  he  arose  from 
the  dead,  with  the  same  body  in  which  he  suffered ;  with 
which  also  he  ascended  into  heaven,  and  there  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  making  intercession ;  and 
shall  return  to  judge  men  and  angels  at  the  end  of  the 
world."  So  spake  the  Assembly  through  the  Confes- 
sion. And  so,  in  that  Assembly,  rang  out  through  the 
reports  on  church  government  such  mighty  praise  to 
Christ  as  this : 

"Jesus  Christ,  upon  whose  shoulders  the  government 
is,  whose  name  is  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the 
Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace ; 
of  the  increase  of  whose  government  and  peace  there 
shall  be  no  end ;  who  sits  upon  the  throne  of  his  father, 
David,  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to  order  it,  and  to  estab- 
lish it,  with  judgment  and  justice,  from  henceforth,  even 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  147 

forever  ;  having  all  power  given  unto  him  in  heaven  and 
in  earth  by  the  Father,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead 
and  set  him  on  his  own  right  hand,  far  above  all  princi- 
pality and  power  and  might  and  dominion,  and  every 
name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in 
that  which  is  to  come,  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his 
feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  Head  over  all  things  to  the 
church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  fiUeth 
all  in  all ;  he  being  ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens, 
that  he  might  fill  all  things,  received  gifts  for  his  church, 
and  gave  all  officers  necessary  for  the  edification  of  his 
church  and  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints."  "This 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Mediator,  the  sole  Priest,  Prophet, 
King,  Saviour,  and  Head  of  the  church,  and  contains  in 
himself,  by  way  of  eminency,  all  the  officers  in  his 
church."  Thus  did  these  godly  divines  make  Jesus  the 
sole  Head  and  King  in  Zion.  Thus  did  they  "bring 
forth  the  royal  diadem  and  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

Looking  backward  from  the  eminence  occupied  by 
ourselves  on  this  fifth  jubilee  of  that  Assembly,  we  ask : 
Could  this  simple  truism  of  the  sovereignty  of  Jesus 
Christ  over  his  church  ever  have  been  denied  ?  Could 
men  ever  have  dreamed  that  Zion  should  be  under  any 
other  Lord?  Could  it  require  any  courage  to  proclaim 
this  first  and  simplest  principle  of  ecclesiastical  polity? 
Ah  !  to  us,  here  and  now,  it  all  seems  simple,  as  the 
very  alphabet  of  church  government;  but  to  those  men, 
then  and  there,  it  was  the  enunciation  of  a  principle  that 
had  been  buried  for  centuries ;  and  the  declaration  was  a 
declaration  of  war  against  two  of  the  mightiest  usurpers 
that  ever  thrust  themselves  upon  the  Redeemer's  throne. 
The  one  of  these  was  Caesar ;  the  other  was  papal  Rome. 

More  than  thirteen  hundred  years  had  dragged  their 
tedious   length  along   since    the    reputed   conversion  of 


148  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Constantine.  The  pagan  religion  of  Rome  had  always 
been  in  close  and  inseparable  connection  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  state.  The  polytheism  of  that  time,  not 
without  its  varied  poetical  charms,  had  interlinked  itself 
with  the  whole  life  of  the  people.  Imaginary  gods 
swept  through  the  air,  walked  the  groves,  arose  from 
the  ocean,  whispered  in  the  breeze,  thundered  in  the 
storm,  shut  or  opened  the  caves  of  the  winds,  and  made 
their  homes  on  the  loftiest  mountains.  The}'  were  wor- 
shipped at  the  firesides,  consulted  in  matters  of  business, 
inquired  of  in  judicial  proceedings,  and  were  absolutely 
identified  with  all  affairs  of  state.  By  an  insidious  and 
easy  transformation,  the  alleged  conversion  of  the  head 
of  paganism  effects  a  transition  into  an  adulterous  con- 
nection of  church  and  state;  and  then,  the  Iliad  of  long 
and  unutterable  woes !  Constantine  becomes  the  head 
of  the  church.  History  sweeps  on.  The  direful  prece- 
dent is  followed  with  fatal  facility.  The  church  lives 
on,  often  more  dead  than  alive,  in  the  unholy  union. 
King  after  king  claims  to  sit  in  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  Henry  VIII.  does  not  scruple  to  declare  himself  the 
Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  in  England.  Even  the  vir- 
tuous and  amiable  Edward  assumes  the  same  high  and 
awful  title.  Mary  Tudor  and  Elizabeth,  appalled  by  the 
thunders  of  John  Knox,  hesitate  as  to  the  title,  but  dare 
the  deed.  James  gladly  receives  the  decision  of  the 
twelve  judges  of  the  Star  Chamber:  "The  king,  having 
the  supreme  ecclesiastical  power,  can,  without  Parlia- 
ment, make  orders  and  constitutions  for  church  govern- 
ment. ' '  Charles  even  more  audaciously  would  wear  the 
crown  of  the  Redeemer.  When,  therefore,  the  doctrine 
of  the  sole  kingship  and  headship  of  Christ  is  at  last 
clearly  and  authoritatively  declared,  kings  may  read  the 
doom  of  civil  despotism  over  the  church.     The  outwork- 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  149 

ing  of  this  mighty  principle  will  be  slow,  as  its  burial 
out  of  human  sight  was  endured  for  a  millennium ;  but 
even  if  a  new  world  must  be  required  for  its  full  develop- 
ment, that  principle,  so  full  of  God's  energy,  shall  pre- 
vail. The  Lamb's  wife  will  yet  walk  the  earth  free  of 
Caesar's  chain. 

The  papacy,  the  other  usurper,  was  no  less  ancient ; 
was,  possibly,  even  more  powerful.  The  false  idea  of 
an  enforced  outward,  organized  unity  ,x)f  the  church, 
with  its  visible  earthly  head,  looms  before  us  in  distinct 
outline,  even  in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era. 
It  is  but  a  little  later  until  the  Roman  prelate  demands 
to  be  recognized  as  the  centre  of  this  unscriptural  Catho- 
lic unity.  The  error  takes  root  and  grows  until  the  pon- 
tiff arrogantly  calls  himself  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ, 
claims  unlimited  power,  and  sitting  as  God,  boasts  him- 
self that  he  is  God.  A  thousand  years  elapse,  and  still 
the  monstrous  usurpation  grows  more  powerful  and  ever 
more  corrupt.  Kings  bow  the  knee  to  this  Dagon,  or 
stand  shivering  at  his  door  to  receive  absolution  from  his 
lips,  as  from  Jesus  Christ  himself.  He  not  only  lords  it 
over  God's  heritage,  but  sways  the  sceptre  over  the 
bowed  heads  of  the  kings  and  princes  of  the  earth.  The 
worn  and  wasted  remnant  that  have  not  bowed  the  knee, 
have  been  crying  for  centuries,  "O  Lord,  how  long?" 
And  now  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  is  unsheathed.  The 
truth  of  God  is  hewing  its  way,  right  and  left,  and. 
marching  to  a  grand  consummation,  in  opposition  to  all 
the  lightnings  and  thunders  of  the  Vatican.  And  here, 
b}^  this  learned  and  powerful  body  of  divines,  the  crown 
rights  of  King  Jesus  are  boldly  proclaimed,  and  all  Rome 
is  defied.  Sternly  the  God-fearing  Assembly,  under 
oath  to  be  true  to  its  convictions,  points  to  its  blood- 
stained banner  and  bids  the  pontiff  read :    ' '  The  Lord 


150  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  King,  the  only  Head  in 
Zion." 

The  leaven  of  this  vital  and  all-embracing  truth 
wrought  mightily  in  every  direction,  and  gave  shape  to 
all  the  subordinate  principles  embraced  in  the  Assembly's 
development  of  the  polity  of  the  church.  To  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  various  and  stupendous  ways  in  which  this 
one  cardinal  doctrine  of  Christ's  sovereignty  was  drawn 
into  realization,  let  me  now  proceed  to  invite  your  atten- 
tion. 

I.  The  sovereign  Jesus  himself  gathers  his  elect  into 
the  one  body  of  which  he  is  the  Head.  "The  catholic, 
or  universal  church,  which  is  invisible,  consists  of  the 
whole  number  of  the  elect  that  has  been,  are,  or  shall 
be,  gathered  into  one,  under  Christ,  the  Head  thereof; 
and  is  the  spouse,  the  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that 
filleth  all  in  all. "  "  The  visible  church  consists  of  all 
those  throughout  the  world  that  profess  the  true  religion, 
together  with  their  children,  and  is  the  kingdom  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. "  "  Unto  this  catholic  visible  church 
Christ  hath  given  the  ministry,  oracles,  and  ordinances 
of  God  for  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the  saints  in 
this  life  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  doth  by  his  own 
presence  and  Spirit,  according  to  his  promise,  make  them 
effectual  thereunto."  The  King  of  Glory  finds  those 
whom  the  Father  hath  given  him,  carnal,  sold  under 
sin,  in  awful  rebellion  against  God  and  his  Christ.  These 
he  subdues  into  willing  subjects ;  yet,  only  by  love,  and 
through  the  effectual  and  irresistible  workings  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  forth  to  apply  the  word  of  God.  Thus 
the  king  pierces  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  joints  and 
marrow,  and  soul  and  spirit,  and  becomes  a  discerner  of 
the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  Sending  the  rod 
of  his  strength  out  of  Zion,  he  rules  in  the  midst  of  his 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  151 

enemies ;  makes  his  people  willing  in  the  day  of  his 
power,  in  the  beauties  of  holiness,  and  more  than  the 
womb  of  the  morning  ;  he  drinks  of  the  brook  in  the  way 
and  lifts  np  the  head.  Set  as  a  king  upon  the  holy  hill 
of  Zion,  he  exultingly  exclaims,  "  I  will  declare  the  de- 
cree; the  Lord  said  unto  me,  'Thou  art  my  Son,  this 
day  have  I  begotten  thee.  Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give 
thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  Lhe  earth  for  thy  possession '  ' '  ,.In  the  view  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  here  was  the  true  bond  of 
Christian  union  ;  not  rigid  and  compulsory  conformity  to 
a  body  bound  hand  and  foot  in  the  fetters  of  cast-iron 
formalism,  nor  allegiance  to  a  corrupt  or  a  capricious  and 
tyrannical  monarchy,  nor  blind  and  superstitious  devotion 
to  the  person,  and  submission  to  the  will  of  papal  or 
prelatic  despot,  but  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace,  as  the  whole  bodj^  gathered  into  one  by  the  will  of 
its  living  Head,  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual 
working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase 
to  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love,  thus  growing  up  into 
him  in  all  things,  which  is  the  Head,  even  Christ, 

2.  This  sovereignty  is  also  realized  in  the  fact  that,  to 
this  body,  thus  gathered  into  one,  the  King  gives  his 
own  word  as  the  exclusive  law  of  being,  of  belief,  and  of 
daily  life.  The  Westminster  Assembly  believed  that 
the  Bible  was  the  very  word  of  God,  sufficient  and  per- 
spicuous ;  its  teachings  and  commandments  to  be  re- 
ceived on  the  authority  of  the  King,  loyalty  to  whom 
required  implicit  faith  and  prompt  and  unquestioning 
obedience  just  so  soon  as  the  true  meaning  of  the  word 
could  be  ascertained.  The  "thus  saith  the  Lord"  was 
to  be  decisive  and  final.  Before  this  rule  of  faith  and 
practice  the  fancies  of  a  supposed  inward  revelation  were 


152  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

vain,  and  the  traditions  of  the  church  itself  were  divested 
of  power  to  bind  the  conscience.  The  supremacy  and 
sovereignty  of  Zion's  King  were  to  be  made  real  to  her 
through  the  very  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only 
Vicegerent  of  his  Majesty  sent  to  earth.  The  members 
of  the  Assembly  seated  themselves  as  if  at  the  very  foot 
of  the  throne,  and  within  the  shadow  of  a  self-imposed 
oath,  read  to  them  afresh  every  week,  promising  and 
vowing  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty  God  to  main- 
tain nothing  in  point  of  doctrine  but  what  they  believed 
to  be  most  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  "The  whole 
counsel  of  God,  concerning  all  things  necessary  for  his 
own  glory,  man's  salvation,  faith  and  life,  is  either  ex- 
pressly set  down  in  Scripture,  or,  by  good  and  necessary 
consequence,  may  be  deduced  from  Scripture,  unto 
which  nothing  is  at  any  time  to  be  added,  whether  by 
new  revelations  of  the  Spirit  or  traditions  of  men," 
* '  The  infallible  rule  of  interpretation  of  Scripture  is  the 
Scripture  itself."  "The  Supreme  Judge  by  which  all 
controversies  of  religion  are  to  be  determined  .  .  .  can  be 
no  other  but  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Scripture." 
The  conscience  is  to  be  left  ' '  free  from  the  doctrines  and 
commandments  of  men  which  are  in  anything  contrary 
to  his  word,  or  beside  it,  in  faith  or  worship."  The 
King's  own  "Himself  hath  said  it"  is  the  exclusive 
rule,  positive  and  negative.  The  Assembly  uncovers 
and  holds  up  to  view  the  weighty  principle,  long  after- 
ward used  so  powerfully  by  our  own  Dr.  Thornwell  in 
his  celebrated  argument  with  the  distinguished  theolo- 
gian of  Princeton,  that,  whether  in  faith,  government  or 
worship,  the  substantial  article  or  action,  if  not  expressly 
commanded,  is  forbidden.  Yet,  even  here  the  wisdom 
and  conservatism  of  the  Assembly  exhibit  themselves  in 
the  explanatory,  if  not  quaHfying,  statement :    ' '  Never- 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  153 

theless  .  .  .  there  are  some  circumstances  concerning 
the  worship  of  God  and  government  of  the  church,  com- 
mon to  human  actions  and  societies,  which  are  to  be 
ordered  by  the  Hght  of  nature  and  Christian  prudence, 
according  to  the  general  rules  of  the  word,  which  are 
always  to  be  observed."  These  "circumstances,"  as 
Gillespie  (quoted  by  Girardeau)  shows,  must  be  (i), 
"only  circumstances;  no  substantial  part;  no  sacred, 
significant  thing;"  (2),  "must  be  such- things  as  are 
not  determinable  by  Scripture;  "  (3),  "must  be  accom- 
panied with  some  good  reason  and  warrant  given  for  the 
satisfaction  of  tender  consciences."  Or,  as  Dr.  Thorn- 
well,  and  after  him  Dr.  Peck,  clearly  states:  "Circum- 
stances are  those  concomitants  of  an  action  without  which 
it  cannot  be  done  at  all,  or  cannot  be  done  zvith  decency 
and  decorum.''''  Precisely  what  discretion  is  implied  in 
the  phrase  I  have  italicized,  this  is  not  the  place,  nor  am 
I  the  person,  accurately  to  determine.  It  seems  suffi- 
cient to  state  the  principles  clearly  known,  and  to  urge 
that  their  observance  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  church's 
loyalty  to  her  living  Lord.  Their  application  at  that  day 
wrought  wonders,  and  turned  the  world  in  the  church 
upside  down.  Burdensome  liturgies,  imposed  by  human 
authority  and  ministering  to  human  indolence  and  igno- 
rance, were  banished.  The  whole  hierarchy  of  arch- 
bishops, bishops,  chancellors,  commissaries,  deans,  deans 
and  chapters,  archdeacons,  priests,  acolytes,  trembled 
and  tottered  as  the  King  spake  through  his  word.  The 
paraphernalia  of  will- worship  and  of  holy  vestments, 
which  from  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  and  as  far  back  as 
Edward,  had  so  grieved  the  simple  Puritan  faith,  were 
"determined  to  be  taken  away."  The  King,  through 
his  servants  and  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  hewed 
them  down  and  proclaimed  with  all  authority  :    ' '  God  is 


154  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."  The  Bible  was  the  sole  law  of 
the  kingdom. 

3.  Shall  we  now  advance  a  step  further  and  say  :  This 
sovereignty  of  Christ  is  also  realized  in  the  fact  that,  in 
the  Scriptures  given  by  the  King  to  his  church,  he  hath 
appointed  for  her  ' '  a  government, ' '  in  the  hands  of  offi- 
cers chosen  and  qualified  by  himself  and  ' '  distinct  from 
the  civil  magistrate. ' '  Out  of  this  complex  proposition, 
I  shall  briefly  educe  three  of  its  important  elements. 

(i).  The  Westminster  Assembly  believed  that  there 
is  a  form  of  government  for  the  church  prescribed  in 
the  word  of  God.  As  we  well  know,  the  Assembly 
was  composed  of  Presbyterians,  Independents,  and  Eras- 
tians.  The  first  class,  especially  those  from  Scotland, 
avowed  and  urged  the  principle.  The  second,  while  at 
times  apparently  lax  in  the  application  of  it,  yet  steadily 
united  in  appeals  to  it  for  the  defence  of  their  peculiar 
tenets.  The  third  class,  basing  its  arguments  largely 
upon  extraneous  considerations,  yet  also  urged,  with 
persistency  and  with  ability,  the  relation  between  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  churches,  and  the  combined  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  one  as  authority  for  the 
same  combination  in  the  government  of  the  other.  Upon 
the  whole,  the  prevailing  view  of  the  Assembl}-  was  that 
Christ  hath  revealed  for  his  church,  in  his  word,  a  gov- 
ernment. 

(2),  But  when  the  question  arose,  what  is  this  scriptu- 
ral government?  then,  as  might  have  been  anticipated, 
came  "the  battle  of  the  giants."  Even  in  expectancy 
of  this  inevitable  issue,  long  before  it  came,  its  over- 
shadowing influence  was  felt.  The  debate  of  those  days 
when  this  question  was  pending  is  historic.  We  read  it, 
not  without  sorrow  over  human  weakness,  but  far  more 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  155 

with  profound  recognition  of  the  conscientiousness  and 
the  ability  which  it  evoked.  Those  men  were  under 
oath  to  be  true  to  God's  word.  For  the  greater  part, 
they  were  staunch  to  their  convictions ;  and  for  this  we 
shall  forever  honor  them. 

It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the  government  an- 
nounced should  be  Presbyterian,  i.  e. ,  simply  by  elders 
of  the  people ;  in  primo  actu,  the  power  residing  in  the 
whole  church  as  the  life  is  in  the  whole  body,  but  the 
exercise  of  the  power  being  in  the  hands  of  elders  called 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  King,  and  invested  b}^  him  with 
authority  to  rule  under  the  law,  which  it  is  theirs  not 
to  make,  but  to  declare  and  to  enforce.  The  power  of 
the  whole  being  in  every  part,  and  over  the  power  of 
ever>'  part,  is  realized  through  representative  Assemblies, 
each  accountable  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  King. 

I  have  said  that  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
Presbyterianism  should  be  the  outcome  of  that  Assembly. 
The  reason  is  plain.  The  Reformers  had  bent  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  with  amazing  coin- 
cidence they  had  come  to  a  very  common  conclusion. 
Having  examined  the  Scriptures  with  an  honesty  of  heart 
and  a  culture  of  mind  and  a  devoutness  of  soul  never 
surpassed,  the  Reformers  most  generally  had  announced 
that  the  government  of  the  apostolic  church  was  Presby- 
terian. Even  the  Independents  in  the  Assembly  at  times 
came  to  the  very  point  of  ' '  accommodation ' '  with  this 
view,  and  it  will  be  evident  that  their  refusal  at  last  was 
due  more  to  their  relation  to  Cromwell  and  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  their  dread  of  an  imperhini  in  imperio,  than  to 
any  other  cause.  Back  of  their  hesitancy  as  to  church 
courts  was  ever  the  influence  of  considerations  growing 
out  of  the  relations  of  church  and  state.  From  the  Re- 
formers in  Holland,  in  Switzerland,  and  above  all,  in 


156  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Scotland,  came  the  uniform  result  of  scriptural  investiga- 
tion, and  the  Assembly  but  voiced  the  general  views 
when  it  declared  that  Presbyterianism  was  the  scriptural 
government  of  the  church.  From  this  side  of  the  arc 
the  pendulum  started  when  it  swung  out  across  the 
centuries  of  apostasy  and  corruption,  and  to  this  side 
must  it  swing  back  again.  I  do  not  mean  to  affirm  that 
the  Westminster  Assembly  gave,  in  their  fullest  develop- 
ment, the  principles  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  the  elder- 
ship. It  did  give  them  in  essential  germinal  complete- 
ness. More  than  two  hundred  years  afterward,  a  son  of 
our  own  church  seized  them,  enstamped  the  image  and 
engraved  the  superscription  of  his  own  sanctified  genius 
upon  them.  Whoever,  to-day,  would  see  them  in  the 
blazing  light  of  ' '  logic  on  fire  ' '  may  read  James  Henley 
Thorn  well ! 

(3),  But  the  Coryphaeus  over  this  whole  company  of 
debated  propositions  was  this :  the  government  of  the 
church  is  in  the  hands  of  officers  distinct  from  the  civil 
magistrate.  This  brings  us  into  the  very  thickest  of  the 
fray.  The  Assembly  affirms  the  autonomy  of  the  church 
under  the  only  King ;  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil 
deny  it. 

I  cannot  adequately  describe  that  long,  patient,  labo- 
rious contest.  Time  would  fail  to  tell  how  the  work  of 
the  Assembly  was  hindered  and  opposed  by  a  few  of  its 
own  body  within,  by  the  Parliament  without,  and  by 
the  collusion  of  both.  When  at  last,  in  spite  of  all 
obstacles  and  hindrances,  the  Assembly's  work  was 
done,  and  submitted  to  the  very  body  which  had  com- 
manded its  performance,  that  body  delayed  action. 
Again  and  again  the  Assembly  urged  it  by  respectful 
and  dignified  petition,  and  finally  by  representatives 
personally  appearing  before   the   Commons  and    mildly 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  157 

but  firmly  insisting.  This  appearance  was  stigmatized 
by  the  House  as  a  "breach  of  privilege."  And  then 
came  a  shameful  spectacle,  as  the  deputies  of  the  Com- 
mons, appointed  for  the  purpose,  stood  on  the  floor  of 
the  Assembly,  and  the  civil  power  rebuked  the  church 
in  language  of  stinging  insult  and  arrogant  domina- 
tion, demanding  that  the  Assembly  set  itself  afresh  to 
answer  certain  questions  regarding  the  J2{s  divimcm  of 
the  church — questions  the  real  object  of  which  seemed 
to  be  to  delay  and  ultimately  defeat  the  Assembly's 
work.  Says  Dr.  Mitchell  in  the  Baird  Lectures:  "They 
had  been  threatened  with  a  prcsmiinire  by  the  king  before 
they  began  their  work.  They  were  now  told  by  the 
deputies  of  that  House  whom  they  had  risked  so  much 
to  serve  that  they  had  incurred  that  penalty.  They 
must  have  listened  with  pain  to  the  speeches,  but  they 
listened  in  silence.  No  angry  word  escaped  them.  No 
course  of  action  was  hastily  resolved  on.  They  read 
the  paper  which  the  deputies  had  left,  and  quietly  ad- 
journed for  the  day."  Sublimely  calm,  they  patiently 
resumed  their  work.  Observing  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  they  took  up  the  queries  propounded  and  labo- 
riously entered  upon  their  discussion.  The  memorable 
address  of  Lord  Warriston,  at  this  juncture,  rang  out  as 
if  the  very  spirit  of  all  the  Covenanters  had  found  in  him 
a  tongue.  May  I  quote  his  words  as  given  by  Mitchell  ? 
Said  he : 

' '  Sir,  all  Christians  are  bound  to  give  a  testimony  to 
everie  truth  when  they  ar  called  to  it ;  but  ye  ar  the 
immediat  servants  of  the  Most  High — Christ's  precoyies 
and  heralds,  whose  propper  function  is  to  proclaim 
his  name,  preserve  his  offices,  and  assert  his  rights. 
Christ  has  had  many  testimonies  given  to  his  prophetical 
and  priestly  office  b}^  the  pleading  and  suffering  of  his 


158  Thk  Westminster  Assembly. 

saincts ;  and  in  thir  latter  dayes  he  seems  to  require  the 
samyne  unto  his  kingly  office.  A  king  loves  a  testimony 
to  his  crowne  best  of  any,  as  that  w"*"  is  tenderest  to 
him;  and  confessors  or  martyres  for  Christ's  crowne  ar 
the  most  roj^al  and  most  stately  of  any  state  martyrs ; 
for  although  Christ's  kingdome  be  not  of  this  world,  and 
his  servants  did  not  fight  therefor  when  he  wes  to  suffer, 
yet  it  is  in  this  world,  and  for  this  end  was  he  born. 
And  to  this  end  that  we  may  give  a  testimony  to  this 
truth  amongst  others  were  wee  born,  nor  should  we  be 
ashamed  of  it  or  deny  it,  but  confesse  and  avouche  it  by 
pleading,  doing,  and  suffering  for  it,  even  in  this  genera- 
tion, w'"  seems  most  to  oppose  it  and  y'  by  require  a 
seasonable  testimony. "  .  .  .  "  Sir,  ye  are  often  desired 
to  remember  the  bounds  of  your  commission  from  man 
and  not  to  exceed  the  samen ;  I  am  confident  you  will 
make  as  much  conscience  not  to  be  deficient  in  the  dis- 
charge of  your  commission  from  Christ.  But  now,  sir, 
5'e  have  a  commission  from  God  and  man  (for  the  w'""  ye 
have  reason  to  thank  God  and  the  Parliament)  to  discuss 
the  truth  that  Christ  is  a  king  and  hes  a  kingdome  in 
the  externall  government  of  his  church,  and  that  he  hes 
set  doun  the  lawes  and  offices  and  other  substantialls 
y"  of.  Wee  must  not  now  before  men  mince,  hold  up, 
conceal,  prudentially  wave  anything  necessary  for  this 
testimony,  .  .  .  not  quit  a  hoofe,  or  edge  away  an 
hemme  of  Christ's  robe  royal."  .  .  .  "And  now,  sir, 
seeing  the  quoeries  ar  before  you,  I  am  confident  that 
whatsoever  diversity  of  opinions  may  be  amongst  you  in 
any  particular,  yee  will  all  look  to  and  hold  out  the 
maine,  Christ's  kingdome  distinct  from  the  kingdomes 
of  this  earth,  and  that  he  hes  and  might  appoint  the  gov- 
ernment of  his  own  house  and  should  rule  the  samen ; 
and  that  none  of  this  Assembly,  even  for  the  gaining; 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  159 

their  desires  in  all  the  poynts  of  difference,  would  by 
y'  silence,  concealment,  and  connivance  weaken,  com- 
municat,  or  sell  any  part  of  this  fundimentall  truth,  this 
sovereign  interest  of  Christ,  and  that  ye  will  all  con- 
curre  to  demonstrate  the  samen  by  clear  passages  of 
Scripture,  necessarie  consequences  y'  fra,  w"''  can  no 
more  be  denyed  or  esteemed  cold  nor  the  letter  itself, 
and  by  the  univer^all  constant  practice  of  the  apostles, 
w*"'"  ar  as  cleare  rules  unto  us  as  any  human  lawes,  infer- 
ences, and  practises  ar,  or  can  be  brought  for  any  civile 
privi  ledges." 

The  success  of  the  Assembly  in  its  labors  to  secure 
the  autonomy  of  the  church  and  the  crown  rights  of  the 
king  was  incomplete  for  the  time,  but  was  destined  to 
be  full.  Compelled  to  admit  a  right  of  final  appeal  (in 
cases  of  discipline)  to  a  parliamentary  commission,  we  rea- 
lize that  the  battle  was  then  only  partially  won.  But  we 
realize,  as  well,  that  the  Assembly  imbedded  in  its  Con- 
stitution those  principles  which  were  left  lying  as  dyna- 
mite beneath  the  grim  Castle  of  Politico- Ecclesiasti- 
cism,  requiring  only  time  to  upheave  and  demolish  it. 
The  doctrine  that  ' '  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience, ' ' 
and  that  Christ's  government  of  his  kingdom  is  in  him- 
self, and  in  those  alone  whom  he  hath  appointed,  was  to 
march  on,  conquering  and  to  conquer.  It  flamed  out  in 
Scotland  in  1732,  and  again  in  1752.  Just  two  hundred 
years  after  the  Assembly  it  burst  forth  with  expanded 
glory,  when  in  Scotland,  in  1843,  the  Free  Church  repu- 
diated all  connection  with  the  state,  and  her  four  hun- 
dred ministers  left  manses,  glebes  and  edifices,  and 
boldly  marched  forth  to  be  God's  freemen.  But  the  ex- 
pansiveness  of  the  principle  required  a  new  world  for  its 
development.  In  1788,  here  in  America,  the  remaining 
traces  of  Erastianism  were  eradicated  from  the  Standards, 


i6o  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

and  God's  church,  cutting  the  tentacle  of  the  octopus 
which  for  fifteen  hundred  years  had  bound  and  smothered 
her,  finally  stood  forth  the  unfettered  bride  of  Christ.  The 
sublime  sense  of  the  immediate  responsibility  to  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  alone  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  the  love, 
not  only  of  religious,  but  of  civil  freedom,  which  it  in- 
variably fosters,  burned  in  the  Scotch-Irish  ruling  elders 
so  largely  composing  the  men  of  Mecklenburg,  whose 
Declaration  of  Independence  near  this  very  spot  will  be 
remembered  as  long  as  North  Carolinians  live  to  love  and 
honor  the  history  of  their  State. 

But  I  must  not  venture  into  this  broad  domain  which 
has  been  reserv^ed  for  an  address  yet  to  come,  but  must 
hasten  to  say — 

4.  The  Westminster  Assembly  realized  the  sovereignty 
of  Christ  over  his  church,  not  only  in  polity,  but  also  in 
worship 

As  founded  by  our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  the  worship 
of  the  church  partook  of  the  simplicity  of  its  government. 
Presbyterian  in  organism,  its  services  of  worship  were 
such  as  plain  elders  of  the  people,  ruling  and  teaching, 
might  conduct  and  administer.  So  early  as  the  second 
century,  prelacy,  by  degrees,  substituted  Presbytery,  and 
more  and  more  the  will  of  the  king,  as  the  master  of  as- 
semblies and  ordinances  was  ignored.  Human  inven- 
tions now  take  the  place  of  divine  institutions.  The  in- 
flux of  influences  of  court  custom  becomes  painfull}' 
manifest  as  soon  as  (about  323  A.  D.)  the  Roman  em- 
peror becomes  practically  the  earthly  head  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  ;  and  the  significant  fact  is  that  the  corrup- 
tions of  worship  obtaining  under  Constantine,  and  for 
centuries  afterward,  have  almost  their  counterpart  in  the 
formalism,  the  ritualism,  the  scenic  splendor  and  pagean- 
try, everywhere  prevalent  at  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  i6i 

tion.  The  tap-root  of  it  all  was  the  unholy  alliance  of 
church  and  state  ;  that  is  to  say,  of  the  church  and  the 
world.  The  Reformers  found  the  way  to  a  return  to 
apostolic  simplicity  of  worship  under  Jesus,  the  King, 
ever  barred  by  the  earthly  monarch  and  his  court.  They 
protested  against  the  countless  images,  fasts,  feasts, 
feast  days,  monasteries,  nunneries,  vestments,  and  set 
liturgies,  as  all  "beside"  the  things  commanded  by  the 
King.  So  intolerable  had  the  burden  become,  and  so 
thoroughly  stifling  to  all  spirituality  the  -atmosphere  by 
which  public  services  were  surrounded,  that,  whatever 
else  the  Assembly  may  have  been  uncertain  about,  they 
were  avowedly  resolved,  as  Parliament  had  already  de- 
cided, that  the  countless  uncommanded  things  of  hu- 
manly imposed  liturgical  worship  should  be  substituted 
by  a  simple  directory,  all  of  whose  substantive  provisions 
should  be  either  expressly  enjoined  by  the  Head  and 
Sovereign  of  the  church  in  his  word,  or,  by  good  and 
necessary  consequence,  be  deducible  from  it.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Assembly,  with  comparatively  little  debate, 
and  with  great  concurrence  of  all  parties,  adopted  the 
Directory  of  Worship. 

It  would  be  impossible,  here  and  now,  to  enter  into 
any  detailed  comparison  between  that  Directory  and  the 
liturgy  it  substituted.  Its  chief  characteristics  are  sim- 
plicity, spirituality,  freedom  from  the  inventions  of  man, 
and  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  commands  of  Christ  the 
King.  It  makes  Jesus  the  Master  of  all  assemblies. 
The  Sabbath  is  his,  the  Lord's  day.  Himself  is  to  pre- 
side over  every  meeting  of  his  saints,  and  his  Spirit  is  to 
be  invoked  as  the  author  of  all  true  prayer  and  the  in- 
spirer  of  all  acceptable  praise.  Most  prominently  did 
the  Assembly  elevate  the  preaching  of  the  word,  which 
had  so  long  been  slighted  and  even  despised.     The  gos- 


1 62  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

pel  ministry  was  to  proclaim  the  King's  law  and  pro- 
mulgate the  King's  gospel,  ever  with  laborious  prepara- 
tion of  head  and  heart  and  spiritually  aroused  conscience ; 
and  for  all  efficiency  and  power  they  were  to  hang  de- 
pendent upon  the  King's  own  Spirit.  The  sacraments, 
divested  of  former  superstitions,  were  no  more  to  be 
worshipped,  but  were  to  be  administered  reverently,  with 
decency  and  with  order;  and  all  power  and  efficiency 
were  to  be  found,  "  not  from  any  virtue  in  them  nor  in 
him  that  did  administer  them,  but  only  by  the  blessing 
of  Christ  and  the  working  of  his  Spirit. " 

If  the  Assembly's  Directory  increased  liberty,  it  also 
augmented  responsibility.  If  it  took  away  the  support 
of  set  and  prescribed  forms  on  which  the  indolent  might 
lean  and  even  sleep,  this  was  done  to  the  avowed  intent 
that  those  who  conducted  public  ser\nces  might  the 
more  industriously  prepare  for  them  ;  and  thereunto  the 
more  diligently  stir  up  the  gifts  of  God  within  them. 
Thus,  in  ordinances  which  Jesus  had  given,  in  sacra- 
ments which  Jesus  had  instituted,  in  only  services  which 
Jesus  had  commanded,  and  with  none  but  the  simple 
forms  which  Jesus  had  made  lawful,  filled  with  Christ's 
spirit,  with  souls  aglow  with  the  love  of  Christ,  wor- 
shippers were  to  draw  near  to  God  and  ascribe  praise, 
honor  and  glory  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
and  unto  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever. 

5.  The  Westminster  Assembly  believed  and, taught 
that  this  sovereign  exaltation  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  be 
increasingly  glorious  through  time  and  resplendent  for- 
ever. By  the  King's  command,  the  gospel  of  the  king- 
dom is  to  be  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto 
all  nations.  "Christ  is  to  be  exalted  in  his  coming 
again  to  judge  the  world  ....  in  the  full  manifesta- 
tion of  his  own  glory,  and  of  his  Father's,  with  all  his 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  163 

holy  angels ;  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  arch- 
angel, and  with  the  trumpet  of  God."  .  .  .  "  The  self- 
same bodies  of  the  dead  which  are  laid  in  the  grave,  be- 
ing then  again  united  to  their  souls  forever,  shall  be 
raised  up  by  the  power  of  Christ."  "  The  bodies  of  the 
just,  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and  by  virtue  of  his  resur- 
rection as  their  Head,  shall  be  raised  in  power,  spiritual 
and  incorruptible,  and  made  like  to  his  glorious  body." 
.  .  .  "The  righteous,  being  caught  up  to  Christ  in  the 
cloudSi  shall  be  set  on  his  right  hand,  and,  there  openly 
acknowledged  and  acquitted,  shall  join  with  him  in  judg- 
ing of  reprobate  angels  and  men  ;  and  shall  be  received 
into  heaven,  where  they  shall  be  fully  and  forever  freed 
from  all  sin  and  misery :  filled  with  inconceivable  joy : 
made  perfectly  holy  and  happy,  both  in  body  and  soul, 
in  the  company  of  innumerable  saints  and  angels,  but 
especially  in  the  immediate  vision  and  fruition  of  God, 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  all  eternity.  And  this  is  the  perfect  and  full 
communion  which  the  members  of  the  invisible  church 
shall  enjoy  with  Christ  in  glory." 

Then,  having  reigned  over  the  kingdom  of  universal 
dominion,  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  until  he  hath  put  down 
all  rule,  and  authority  and  power,  with  all  enemies 
beneath  his  feet,  and  even  death,  the  last  enemy,  de- 
stroyed, then  cometh  the  end,  when  the  kingdom  of 
power  shall  have  been  delivered  up  to  God,  even  the 
Father,  and  Jesus  Christ,  as  Theanthropos,  shall  reign 
over  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  glory,  and  "God  be  all 
in  all."  Unto  him  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every 
tongue  confess  that  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father. 

And  now,   Moderator  and  brethren  of  the  Assembly, 
with  whatever  ability  God  hath  given,  I  have  discussed 


164  The  Westminster  Assembly,. 

Defore  you  this  immense  theme.  In  conclusion,  may  I 
not  briefly  urge  two  corollaries  which  the  discussion  has 
suggested  and  impressed  ? 

I.  More  than  thirty-five  years  ago,  in  the  fair  city 
of  Augusta,  Ga.,  on  the  threshold  of  a  home  which 
she  was  about  to  leave  for  her  own  separate  work 
and  destiny,  stood  the  then  youngest  of  all  in  the 
sisterhood  of  the  churches  of  Jesus  Christ.  Sad,  yet 
resolute,  pensive,  yet  hopeful,  the  dark  clouds  of  war 
hovering  over  her  and  an  unknown  future  looming  before 
her,  that  church  called  to  her  side  the  willing  and  able 
Thorn  well,  and  bade  him  take  his  pen,  mightier  than  the 
sword,  and  write  in  imperishable  record  her  reasons  for 
her  separate  existence.  That  address  to  all  the  churches 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  historic  and  known  of  you  all.  The 
point  now  to  be  emphasized  is  that  the  cardinal  consid- 
eration imbedded  in  that  immortal  document  is,  that  this 
church  must  be  separate  in  order  that  she  might  be  free 
from  any  and  all  entangling  alliances  with  the  state. 
Upon  that  solid  rock  she  took  her  stand.  Man}^  storms 
have  swept  over  her  since  that  eventful  hour,  but  that 
foundation  is  still  immutably  beneath  her  feet.  And,  to- 
day, looking  backward  over  the  unnumbered  woes  which, 
from  Constantine  to  Charles  I.,  and  from  Charles  I.  to 
the  American  General  Assembly  in  1789,  have  oppressed 
and  crushed  to  earth  the  Lamb's  wife ;  and  remembering 
that  it  took  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  for  her  to 
emancipate  herself  from  the  shackles  that  fettered  her, 
who  can  be  surprised  that  the  blood  of  the  Covenanting 
martyrs  in  Scotland,  of  the  Huguenots  in  France,  of  the 
Puritans  in  England,  should  find  a  voice  to  sweep  to  us 
across  these  two  and  a  half  centuries  the  admonition  : 
"Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and 
to  God  the  thiyigs  that  are  God's!''     Can  it  be  surprising 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.         .        165 

that  those  of  us  who  know  history  should  view  with 
shuddering  dread  any  step  that  tends  to  take  from  us  the 
freedom  from  civil  domination  wherewith  Christ  and 
the  long  struggle  of  two  hundred  years  have  made  us 
free? 

2.  The  facts  of  history  enable  us  to  understand  xvhy 
the  sovereignty  of  God  should  have  been  borne  in  upon 
the  Westminster  Assembly  so  as  to  transfuse  every  part 
of  its  doctrine,  polity,  and  worship.  By  the  cooperative 
power  of  two  glorious  instrumentalities  the  omnipotent 
Jehovah  was  making  bare  his  arm  before  the  almost  be- 
wildered gaze  of  the  men  of  that  day,  while  his  voice 
proclaimed,  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power;  but  by  my 
Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

The  one  of  these  agencies  was  the  Bible.  The  Re- 
formation was  a  revival.  Its  author  was  the  Holy 
Ghost.  As  always,  the  instrument  was  the  word  of 
God.  The  Almighty  drew  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and 
with  it  flashed  forth  the  brightness  and  splendor  of  his 
own  power  and  glory.  Nearly  three  centuries  before  the 
Assembly,  Wychfie,  who  died  in  1384,  had  translated 
the  whole  Bible  out  of  the  Vulgate,  and  earned  the 
posthumous  glory  of  giving  his  body  to  be  burned. 
Just  one  hundred  years  later,  Tyndale  was  born,  and 
made  almost  a  fugitive  on  the  face  of  the  earth  for 
his  repeated  attempts  to  publish  parts  of  the  word  of 
God,  until  at  Antwerp,  in  1534,  he  issues  his  New  Tes- 
tament, nails  his  name  to  its  masthead,  and,  as  usual,  is 
burned  at  the  stake.  But  still  the  word  of  God  is  not 
bound.  Tyndale's  friend  and  co-worker.  Miles  Cover- 
dale,  in  1535,  publishes  his  English  translation  of  the 
whole  Bible,  whose  version  of  the  Psalms  is  in  the  Epis- 
copal Prayer- Book  unto  this  day;  his  work  denounced 
by  the  Inquisition  and  condemned  to  the  flames.    Martin 


i66  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Luther,  after  twelve  years  of  toil,  issues  his  great  Ger- 
man  Bible  in  1532.  The  Genevan  Bible  comes  forth  in 
1560;  and  our  own  King  James'  version  in  161 1.  The 
long-smothered  blaze  of  revelation  was  bursting  out 
everywhere,  and  the  light  of  God's  sovereign  word  was 
so  glorious  as  to  make  even  persecution  "pale  its  in- 
effectual fires,"  as  Jerome  of  Prague  dies  undaunted  at 
the  stake,  and  Huss  of  Bohemia  goes  out  of  the  world  as 
in  Elijah's  chariot,  praying  in  the  Psalms  of  David  and 
singing  with  a  loud  voice  the  Christe  EIciso7i. 

The  other  instrumentality  working  with  the  word  was 
God's  sovereign  and  stupendous  providence.  Steadily 
and  surely  the  King  of  Glory  was  delivering  the  church 
from  her  two  ancient  oppressors,  Rome  and  Caesar. 
Never  in  earthquake,  in  whirlwind,  or  in  fire,  had  the 
presence  of  the  power  and  glory  of  God  been  more 
plainly  shown  than  in  his  providential  ruling  of  all  the 
kings  of  the  earth  at  this  period  of  history.  He  puts 
enmity  between  the  two  mighty  usurpers  of  Christ's 
crown.  Henry  VIII.,  bold,  headstrong,  fickle,  and  licen- 
tious, yet  advanced  the  Reformation.  Edward  VI., 
guided  by  Cranmer  and  Somerset,  and  coming  under  the 
influence  of  even  John  Knox,  was  made  to  promote  it. 
Mary  Tudor,  married  to  a  mummy  in  all  feeling  except 
vindictiveness,  and  bitter  under  the  outrageous  insults 
heaped  upon  her  divorced  mother,  would  extirpate  the 
faith  and  burn  its  every  branch  ;  but  God,  through  her, 
sent  disciples  to  Calvin  and  scattered  the  seeds  of  reli- 
gion everywhere.  Elizabeth  thought  that  two  or  three 
preachers  would  be  enough  for  a  whole  count)^  and 
James  and  Charles  would  ' '  harrie  them  out  of  the  land, ' ' 
but  conventicles  sprang  up  like  magic,  and  ministers  of 
the  word,  the  like  of  whom  had  almost  never  before  been 
seen,  arose  as  if  out  of  the  very  dust  of  the  earth.      And 


Church  Polity  and  Worship.  167 

if  England  had  seen  God's  amazing  power,  Scotland 
more.  From  the  common  people  to  the  lords,  from  the 
lords  to  the  throne,  arose  the  tide ;  and  monarchy  was 
powerless  to  say,  "Hitherto,  but  no  farther."  Blood  of 
eighteen  thousand  martyrs  flowed,  but  every  drop  of  it 
had  a  voice  to  cry  from  the  ground  and  to  preach  the 
word.  The  very  agonies  of  the  dying  were  the  birth- 
throes  of  eternal  living.  Driven  from  hope  in  man,  to 
whom  might  the  saints  go  but  unto  the  sovereign  God  ? 
When  in  old  Greyfriar's  churchyard  the  Covenanters 
dipped  their  pens  in  the  blood  gushing  warm  from  their 
hearts  to  self-made  openings  in  their  veins,  and  so  signed 
their  allegiance  to  Jesus  as  King,  we  can  see  how,  out 
of  the  suppressed  groans  and  prayers,  not  loud,  but  deep, 
in  that  awful  hour  they  must  have  looked  for  support  to 
the  sovereign  God  and  his  everlasting  arm.  Well  may 
Froude  say  of  these  Calvinists :  ' '  They  were  splintered 
and  torn,  but  no  power  could  bend  or  melt  them." 
And  the  reason  Froude  gives  is  good :  ' '  They  dwelt,  as 
pious  men  are  apt  to  dwell,  in  suffering  and  sorrow,  on 
the  all-disposing  power  of  Providence.  Their  burden 
grew  lighter  as  they  considered  that  God  had  so  deter- 
mined that  they  should  bear  it." 

The  members  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  met  after 
two  centuries  of  all  this  mighty  working  of  God's  word 
and  God's  providence.  Like  Elijah  at  Horeb,  they 
looked  out  upon  the  glory  of  the  Lord  sweeping  before 
them  in  earth's  convulsions,  in  tornado  and  in  fire;  and 
then,  reverently  opening  their  Bibles  under  the  sanction 
of  their  awful  oath,  and  saying,  "Speak,  Lord,  thy 
servants  hear, ' '  they  blend  their  Doctrine  and  Polity  into 
Worship,  and  all  into  Doxology :  ' '  The  Lord  is  our  re- 
fuge and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble.  There- 
fore will  we  not  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed,  and 


i68  The  Wkstminster  Assembly. 

though  the  mountains  be  whelmed  into  the  midst  of  the 
sea." 

' '  AlleluHa  !   the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth  !  ' ' 

"  Lord  of  every  land  and  nation, 
Ancient  of  eternal  days, 
Sounded  through  the  wide  creation. 
Be  thy  just  and  awful  praise. 

'For  thy  providence  that  governs, 

Through  thine  empire's  broad  domain 
Wings  an  angel,  guides  a  sparrow, 
Blessed  be  thy  gentle  reign. 

'  -  But  thy  rich,  thy  free  redemption. 
Dark  through  brightness  all  along ; 
Thought  is  poor  and  poor  expression  ; 
Who  can  sing  that  awful  song  ! 

"Go:   return,  immortal  Saviour  ; 

Leave  thy  footstool,  take  thy  throne ; 
Thence  return  and  reign  forever  ! 
Be  the  kingdom  all  thine  own  !  " 


REV.  JAMES   D.  TADLOCK,  D.   D.,  LL.   U. 


VII. 


THE  CHURCHES  THAT  HOLD  THE  WESTMINSTER 
SYMBOLS,  AND  THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES 
GENERALLY— THEIR  POINTS  OF  CONTACT 
AND  CONTRAST  ;  THEIR  PRESENT  RELA- 
TIONS, WORK,  AND  OUTLOOK. 

BY 

Rev    JAMES  D.  TADLOCK,   D.  D.,  LL  D., 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 
COLUMBIA,   SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


log 


ANALYSIS. 

Topic  stated.— Statistics  of  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
Churches  given.— In  the  United  Kingdom.— In  North  America. — 
In  South  America.— Australasia.— In  other  places. — Other  Re- 
formed Churches  —Total  number.— Distribution. — The  Reforma- 
tion in  its  two  branches.— The  one  Lutheran,  and  the  other  Cal- 
vinistic— Their  creeds.— The  Reformed  creeds  are  twofold. — 
The  one  Zwinglian,  the  other  Calvinistic— The  work  of  Calvin 
and  Zwingli  contrasted. — Various  Catechisms  and  Confessions 
described.— About  thirty  in  number.— Heidelberg.— Thirty-nine 
Articles.— Westminster  Standards.— Helvetic. — Dort.— French. — 
Belgic— Arminian  Articles. — The  Sixty-seven  Articles.— Luther's 
theses— Berne.— Basel.— Calvin's  Catechism.— Galilean. —Bran- 
denberg. — Elizabeth 's  Articles. — Irish  Articles.  —  Scottish  Confes- 
sions.— Finally  the  Westminster  Standards  emerged.— The  doc- 
trinal harmony  of  these  great  creeds. — Westminster  Assembly 
fell  heir  to  all  of  them. — Its  work  was  not  all  new  work. — The 
building  of  Solomon's  temple  taken  to  illustrate  the  work  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly. — Doctrine  and  polity  contrasted  and 
compared. — The  situation  in  Britain  in  this  connection. — The 
corresponding  situation  in  America. — Reference  made  to  the 
Sixth  General  Council  of  the  Alliance  of  the  Reformed 
Churches. — The  outlook. — General  survey  takes  a  wide  sweep. — 
The  mission  of  the  church  generally. — Of  the  Reformed  Churches 
specially. — Her  theology  and  her  ministry. — The  great  need  of 
the  sinful  world. — The  world-wide  missionary  activity  of  these 
churches. — Reasons  for  encouragement. — Discouragements  there 
are,  but  they  fade  out  of  sight. — The  glorious  hope  of  final  tri- 
umph.— All  branches  of  the  Lord's  host  are  to  stand  and  work 
together. — They  shall  have  a  share  in  the  glory  that  shall  surely- 
come. — Tokens  of  a  coming  storm. — Pledges  of  an  assured  vic- 
tory. 


170 


VII. 


THE  CHURCHES  THAT  HOLD  THE  WESTMINSTER 
SYMBOLS,  AND  THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES 
GENERALLY. 


THE  topic  assigned  to  me  is  as  .follows:  "The 
Churches  that  Hold  the  Westminster  Symbols, 
and  the  Reformed  Churches  Generally ;  Their  Points  of 
Contact  and  Contrast;  Their  Present  Relations,  Work, 
and  Outlook."  The  various  subdivisions  of  this  topic 
will  be  taken  up  in  the  order  of  their  statement.  In 
order  to  bring  the  subject  before  us  with  a  degree  of 
completeness  some  detailed  statistics  must  be  given. 
These  will  give  us  a  clear  view  of  the  Presbyterian  and 
Reformed  churches  in  general,  and  of  those  holding  the 
Westminster  Standards  in  particular.  The  statistics  we 
have  been  able  to  gather  are  as  follows : 

Churches  That  Hold  the  Westminster  Symbols. 


The  United  Kingdom. 


Ministers. 
•       339 

14 
.       656 

29 


Presbjrterian  Church  of  England,    .    .    . 

Church  of  Scotland  in  England,  .... 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  .... 

Reformed  Presbyter'n  Church  in  Ireland, 

Eastern  Reformed  Pres.  Ch.  in  Ireland,  .    .    . 

Secession  Church  of  Ireland, 7 

Church  of  Scotland, 1,608 

8.  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 1,165 

g.  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,    610 

10.  Reformed  Presb-yterian  Church  of  Scotland,     8 

11.  United  Original  Secession  Ch.  [Scotland],      21 


4,457 


Members. 

68,997 

3.552 

104,838 

4,085 

1,230 
620,376 

344,273 

190,950 

1,176 

3,837 

1,343,314 


171 


172 


The  Westminster  Assembly. 


North  America. 

1.  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada,  .    .    . 

2.  Canada  Synod  of  Church  of  Scotland, 

3.  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., 

4.  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.,  .    . 

5.  Associate  Ref'd  Pres.  Ch.  of  the  South, 

6.  Associate  Ref'd  Pres.  Ch.  N.  America, 

7.  Gen'l  Synod  Ref'd  Pres.  Ch.  America, 

8.  Synod  Ref'd  Pres.  Church  in   America, 


9,460  1,498,011 
South  America  and  West  Indies. 

Ministers.  Members. 

1.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Brazil,    ....       31      .  .       44,000 

2.  Presbytery  of  Trinidad, 10      .  .             745 

3.  Presbytery  of  British  Guiana, 

4.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Jamaica,  ....       29 


Ministers. 

Members. 

•  I>077        • 

l88,lSo 

6        . 

1,134 

•  6,797       • 

1,070,246 

•  1,349       • 

210,539 

.        87       . 

10,640 

35       • 

6,000 

;a,    109 

11,272 

Australasia. 


1.  Pres.  Church  of  Eastern  Australasia, 

2.  Pres.  Church  of  New  South  Wales, 

3.  Pres.  Church  of  South  Australia,  . 

4.  Presbyterian   Church  of  Victoria,  . 

5.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Queensland, 

6.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Tasmania,  . 

7.  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  Zealand, 

8.  Presbyterian  Ch.  Otago  and  Southland, 

9.  Mission  Synod  of  New  Hebrides,  .  .    .    . 


70 

Ministers. 

6 

159 

17 

226 

42 


S4 
84 
20 

708 


Miscellaneous. 


Ministers. 


1.  Evangelical  Church  in  Italy 18 

2.  Independent  Presbyteries  in  China,   .... 

3.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Manchuria,  ...        19 

4.  Presbyterian  Church   of  Korea,  .    .    ,    .     .    . 

5.  Presbytery  of  South  Formosa, 

6.  Presbytery  of  Ceylon 5 


10,981 

55,726 

Members. 

270 

10,447 

1,430 

22,873 

5,000 

1,500 

8,902 

13.302 


63,724 

Members. 
1,449 


2,000 

156 
1,257 
1,120 


Carried  forward, 


42 


5,982 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.     173 

Ministers.  Members. 

Brought  forward, 42      .    .  5>982 

7.  Presby's  of  Ch,  of  Scotland  in  Africa, 

8.  Presby's  of  Free  Ch.  of  Scotland  in  Africa, 

9.  Pres'y  United  Pres.  Ch.  of  Scot,  in  Af'ca 


42  5,982 


TOTAI.,    ....    14,737  2,966,757 

Number  of  churches  that  hold  Westminster  Symbols,    ...  41 

The  Reformers  in  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury were  called  Protestants,  taking  the  name  from  a 
protest  which  they  entered  against  the  famous  edict 
passed  at  the  diet  of  Spires,  A.  D.  1529.  Later  an 
irreconcilable  difference  emerged  between  Luther  and 
Zwingli,  who  led  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland.  This 
was  principally  in  regard  to  the  Lord's  supper  and  the 
extent  of  God's  sovereignty,  but  resulted  in  the  perma- 
nent division  of  the  Protestants,  to  be  known  hence- 
forward as  Lutheran  and  Reformed.  Notwithstanding 
both  are  Reformed,  still  the  terms  have  received  a  his- 
torical setting,  and  for  convenience  are  used  to  designate 
the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Protestant  church.  Our 
topic  will  lead  us  to  speak  only  of  the  Reformed  Church 
or  churches. 

To  get  the  sweep  of  our  field  it  is  necessary  to  indulge 
a  little  further  in  statistics,  the  dry  bones  of  history. 

Besides  the  churches  in  the  United  States  that  adopt 
the  Westminster  Standards  there  are  other  large  and  in- 
fluential churches  that  accept  these  Standards  as  the 
basis  of  their  church  doctrine.  Of  these  may  be  men- 
tioned the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America, 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Reformed  (D.) 
Church  in  America,  the  Reformed  (G.)  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  the  Synod  of  the  Reformed 


174  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  General  Synod  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Church,  the  Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodist  or  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  the  Christian  Reformed  Church  in  America. 
The  membership  of  these  churches  aggregate  more  than 
650,000.  It  is  estimated  that  the  adherents  of  the  Pres- 
byterian and  Reformed  churches  in  the  world  number 
25,000,000.  In  Europe  they  are  distributed  as  follows  : 
Bohemia,  70,000;  France,  800,000;  Germany,  3,000,000; 
Holland,  2,500,000;  Hungary,  2,000,000;  Switzerland, 
1,700,000;  other  countries  (in  Europe),  250,000;  Africa, 
400,000;  Asia,  300,000;  Australia,  200,000;  South 
America,  30,000.' 

While  the  Reformation  movements  in  Germany  and 
Switzerland  were  contemporaneous,  yet  they  were  inde- 
pendent of  each  other.  Luther  was  born  in  1483; 
Zwingli  in  1484.  Luther  put  a  stop  to  Tetzel's  selling 
indulgences  in  Wittenberg  by  nailing  his  ninety-five 
theses  on  the  church  door  in  15 17.  Zwingli  drove 
Sampson,  the  indulgence  seller,  from  Zurich  in  15 18. 
The  movements  in  their  beginnings  were  almost  simul- 
taneous, the  occasion  the  same,  each  was  headed  by  a 
single  leader,  the  evils  and  wrongs  of  the  papacy  protested 
against  by  both  the  same,  and  yet  the  lines  of  develop- 
ment diverge  and  end  in  organizations  as  widely  different 
as  are  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches.  May  not 
the  free  government  and  mountains  of  Switzerland,  in 
contrast  with  the  monarchy  and  despotic  Charles  of 
Germany,  have  had  some  influence  in  shaping  what  is 
distinctive  in  the  two  churches? 

Let  us  look  more  narrowly  at  the  principal  Reformed 
creeds.  They  number  more  than  thirty.  The  three 
most  widely  accepted  are  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  the 

'See  Pi'esbytericm  Hand-Book,  1897. 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.    175 

Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  the  Westminster  Standards. 
Next  to  these  are  the  Helvetic  Confession  and  the 
canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort. 

The  Reformed  Confessions  may  be  classified  as  Zwing- 
lian  and  Calvinistic.      As  to  nativity  they  may  be  desig- 
nated as  Swiss,   German,   French,   Dutch,   English,   and 
Scotch.      To  the  Swiss  family  belong  the  Confessions  of 
Zurich,  Basel,  Berne,  and  Geneva ;  to  the  German  family 
belong  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  the  Tetrapolitan,  Bran- 
denburg,   and  Anhalt  Confessions ;   to  "France  and  the 
Netherlands  belong  the  French  and  the  Belgic  Confessions, 
the  canons   of  the   Synod  of  Dort,    and  the    Arminian 
Articles;  to  the  English  family  belong  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,   the  Scotch  Confessions,   and  the  Westminster 
Standards.     Besides  these  there  are  others  of  less  import- 
ance that  originated  in  Bohemia,  Poland,  and  Hungary. 
Since  we  trace  back  the  pedigree  of  the  Reformed  fami- 
lies to  Switzerland,  we  may  note  the  growth  from  that 
point.       Zwingli  wrote    four  theological   works,    which 
were  symbolical  in  character.      The  first  in  1523,  which 
consisted  of  sixty-seven  articles.      These,  like  Luther's 
theses,    were    intended    for    public    disputation.      These 
articles  exalt  the  headship  of  Christ,   the  supremacy  of 
the   Scriptures,    and  present  the  way  of  salvation  freed 
from  the  accretions  of  popery.      His   second  work  was 
the  Ten  theses  of  Berne,  issued  in  1526.      In  this,  again, 
is  emphasized  the  headship  of  Christ  in  the  church,  the 
supremacy   of  the    Scriptures  as   the   standard   of  final 
appeal,    and   Christ  the  only   way   of  salvation;    at  the 
same  time  are  denounced  masses  for  the  dead,  and  other 
unscriptural  doctrines  of  the  Romish  church.      The  third 
is    a    Confession    of    Faith    addressed   to    the    Emperor 
Charles  ^^   in   1530.      The  fourth,  an  exposition  of  the 
Christian  faith  addressed  to  Francis  I.  in  1531. 


176  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

The  author  of  the  Confession  of  Basel  was  ^colampa- 
dius.  This  was  written  in  1531,  and  makes  the  Scrip- 
tures the  standard  of  final  appeal. 

The  second  Helvetic  Confession  is  the  first  of  the 
RefiDrmed  churches  of  national  authority.  Bullinger  was 
its  author.  It  appeared  at  Zurich  in  1566,  and  was 
Zwinglian  in  its  tone.  It  consists  of  thirty  chapters, 
and  in  its  wide  sweep  covers  the  whole  field  of  contro- 
versy between  the  Reformers  and  the  Romanists.  It  is 
at  the  same  time  a  witness  and  a  protest.  It  makes  a 
wide  discrimination  between  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  that  of  the  fathers,  councils  and  traditions. 
It  places  the  crown  upon  the  Saviour's  brow. 

The  Catechism  of  Geneva,  revised  and  enlarged  by 
Calvin,  appeared  in  1541,  and  was  translated  at  different 
times  into  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish,  English,  German, 
Dutch,  Hungarian,  Greek  and  Hebrew.  Of  the  con- 
tents of  this  creed  it  is  unnecessary  to  remark. 

Of  France  and  the  Netherlands  there  are  three  impor- 
tant Confessions.  The  most  important  is  the  Gallican, 
published  in  1559,  the  work  of  John  Calvin,  and  is  a 
summary  of  the  doctrines  of  grace  as  grasped  by  his 
great  mind. 

Belgium  is  historic  ground,  hallowed  by  martyrs' 
blood.  It  may  claim  the  honor  of  having  furnished  the 
first  martyrs  of  evangelical  Protestantism.  Into  this 
fair  land  Philip  II.  of  Spain  sent  his  butcher,  the  Duke 
of  Alva,  with  10,000  men  to  extirpate  heretics.  After 
prosecuting  for  six  years  his  bloody  work  he  made  the 
infamous  boast  that  besides  the  multitudes  slain  in  bat- 
tle and  massacred  after  the  victory,  he  had  consigned  to 
the  executioner  18,000  victims.  The  Confession  of  this 
people  is  known  as  the  Belgic,  and  it  was  to  exterminate 
the  noble  confessors  of  it  that  Philip  turned  loose  10,000 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.     177 

Spanish  blood- hounds.  The  author  of  this  Confession 
was  the  martyr  Guido  De  Bres,  and  its  date  1561. 

The  Synod  of  Dort,  with  representatives  from  Eng- 
land, Scotland  and  Germany,  met  in  161 8.  This  Synod 
adopted  canons  under  five  heads  of  doctrine,  which  em- 
braced the  Calvinistic  system.  The  oldest  Confession  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany  attempts  to  mediate 
between  Luther,  Zwingli  and  Calvin.  It  gives  no  un- 
certain sound,  however,  as  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
Scriptures  and  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  It 
was  adopted  in  1530. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  ranks  with  the  best  of  the 
Reformed  symbols.  It  is  claimed  to  excel  all  others  in 
catholicit)^ ;  this,  probably,  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
presents  less  jaggedly  the  angular  points  of  Calvinism. 
Its  principal  author  was  Ursinus,  in  1563. 

There  were  three  Confessions  of  Brandenburg,  the 
central  province  of  Prussia,  the  latest  dating  1645. 
There  were  many  other  creeds  adopted  in  Germany,  of 
less  importance  and  less  general  in  their  use. 

The  Thirty-nine  Articles,  or  the  Elizabethan  Creed,  as 
they  are  called,  were  perfected  and  published  in  1563. 
The  Irish  Articles  were  framed  in  161 5,  while  the  Scotch 
Confessions  bring  us  up  to  1643.  All  these  Confessions 
which  we  have  noticed  antedate  the  Assembly  that 
adopted  the  Westminster  Standards. 

I  have  been  thus  specific  in  enumerating  these  Confes- 
sions and  attaching  theif  dates  in  order  that  we  may  not  be 
unmindful  of  our  indebtedness  to  those  who  formulated 
them,  and  sometimes  sealed  their  testimony  with  martyr- 
blood.  While  appreciating  and  honoring  that  venerable 
body  of  great  and  good  men  that  left  to  the  church  such 
an  admirable  formulation  of  scriptural  doctrine,  let  us 
not  forget  those  whose  sweat,  and  prayers,   and  blood 


lyS  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

prepared  the  ground  and  furnished  so  much  of  the  mate- 
rial. From  the  day  that  Luther  nailed  his  theses  upon 
the  door  of  the  old  church  in  Wittenberg  until  the 
meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  illustrious  divines  in  West- 
minster, one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  no  brighter 
galaxy  of  names  can  be  found  in  ecclesiastical  history 
than  those  that  illumine,  and  adorn  these  pages.  They 
had  to  attack  the  enemy  in  fortifications  built  and 
strengthened  by  the  ages.  Crowned  and  sceptred  mon- 
archs  with  armies  to  do  their  bidding,  and  popes  clothed 
with  power  to  interdict  and  to  anathematize,  occupied  the 
ground.  The  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers  had  been 
struggling  for  centuries  for  the  mastery.  And  while 
this  contest  was  waging,  civil  and  religious  liberty  was 
ground  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones.  And 
when  the  Reformers  appeared  on  the  scene,  as  of  old 
when  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  given  purpose  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees  and  the  Heiodians  combined, 
so  in  this  case  kings  and  emperors  and  cardinals  and 
popes  united  their  forces.  And  not  since  the  days  of 
Nero  and  Diocletian  has  this  old  crazy  world  witnessed 
such  persecutions  and  wholesale  massacres.  And  thus 
the  conflict  went  on,  while  the  enemy  never  fell  back  but 
an  inch  at  a  time,  and  the  Reformers  gained  only  an 
inch  at  a  time,  and  that  at  the  price  of  blood,  and  these 
creeds  that  have  been  mentioned  garne^^d  up  what  was 
so  dearly  won. 

There  is  a  remarkable  agreement  among  these  Confes- 
sions in  exalting  God's  sovereignty  in  matters  of  salva- 
tion, Christ's  headship  in  the  church,  the  Scriptures  the 
standard  of  final  appeal,  and  the  sovereignty,  under  God, 
of  the  individual  conscience.  These  were  the  great  car- 
dinal truths  at  issue  between  the  Reformers  on  the  one 
side,  and  Romanists  and  Erastians  on  the  other;  and  in, 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.     179 

these  creeds  they  formulated  all  that  is  vital  to  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformed  churches.  Those  who  came  later 
fell  heir  to  all  that  had  been  achieved  before.  When  the 
Westminster  Assembly  of  divines  met  they  were  in  pos- 
session of  all  these  symbols  which  embodied  the  results 
of  the  sixteenth  century  and  first  half  of  the  seventeenth. 
Not  only  this,  they  were  in  possession  of  the  Apostolic, 
the  Nicene,  and  the  Athanasian  Creeds.  Not  only  this, 
they  had  the  advantage  of  all  that  was  involved  in  that 
undercurrent  of  reform  and  noble  protest -that  ran  through 
much  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Wy cliff e  is  called  the  morning 
star  of  the  Reformation.  That  star  glimmered  on  the 
horizon  two  hundred  years  before  the  ring  of  Luther's 
hammer  was  heard  in  Wittenberg,  and  was  the  harbinger 
of  a  galaxy  of  stars  soon  to  throw  their  light  athwart  the 
darkness  of  papal  night.  In  this  toil  and  suffering  and 
patient  waiting,  I  find,  in  some  respects,  an  analogy  in 
the  building  of  the  ancient  temple.  I  hear  the  patient 
pick  in  a  thousand  quarries,  and  the  ring  of  the  axe  on 
a  hundred  slopes  of  Lebanon.  I  see  them  bringing 
down  the  polished  stones  and  dressed  cedar,  and  load- 
ing them  on  rafts  along  the  Mediterranean  coast.  These 
I  follow  until  landed  at  a  point  opposite  to  Jerusalem. 
Here  starts  a  line  of  toilers  stretching  from  the  sea  across 
to  Mount  Moriah,  conveying  the  materials,  and  deliver- 
ing them  to  t^^  -builders,  under  whose  magic  skill  rises 

the  beau ^  ^mple  of  Solomon,  so  long  to  resound  with 

the  music  of  worship.  And  the  house,  when  it  was  in 
building,  was  built  of  stone  made  ready  before  it  was 
brought  thither,  so  that  there  was  neither  hammer  nor 
axe  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house  while  it  was 
building.  Those  who  laid  the  stones  and  adjusted  the 
timbers,  however  skillfully  they  did  it,  were  not  entitled 
to  all  the  glor}'  of  that  temple.      So  those  who  formu- 


I  So  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

lated  the  Westminster  Symbols,  however  wisely  they 
did  it,  must  divide  the  honors  with  the  centuries.  They 
did  their  work  well,  but  most  of  the  material  used  was 
made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither. 

Some  of  the  Reformed  churches  hold  to  the  system  of 
doctrine  that  is  taught  in  the  Westminster  Standards,  but 
reject  the  church  polity  of  the  Standards ;  others  hold  to 
the  polity,  but  reject  some  of  the  doctrines.  Of  these  we 
have  examples  in  our  own  country.  The  Cumberland 
Church  is  strictly  Presbyterian  in  polity,  while  it  mars 
and  mutilates  the  Westminster  system  of  doctrine.  Its 
theology  is  neither  Calvinistic  nor  Arminian,  but  a  mix- 
ture of  both.  It  is  like  the  image  that  was  part  of  iron 
and  part  of  clay.  The  Baptist  Church,  so  far  as  it 
formally  accepts  a  creed,  receives  the  theology  of  the 
Westminster  Standards,  except  as  to  one  of  the  sacra- 
ments, but  the  polity  of  the  Baptist  Church  is  congrega- 
tional. The  historical  position  of  the  Church  of  England 
is  quite  peculiar  if  not  anomalous.  While  recognized  as 
belonging  to  the  Reformed  family,  yet  it  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  the  half-way  house  between  Rome  and 
Geneva,  or  between  Romanism  and  Protestantism.  To 
say  the  least,  the  Anglican  church  is  a  compromise; 
and  it  is  diflScult,  looked  at  from  a  human  standpoint,  to 
see  how,  under  the  circumstances,  it  could  have  been 
otherwise.  The  throne  of  England  during  the  sixteenth 
century  was  occupied  by  Henry  VIII.  and  his  children, 
Henry  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  England  was  too 
small  for  him  and  the  Pope.  Henry  cared  but  little  for 
the  church,  but  he  was  determined  to  be  monarch,  and, 
therefore,  aided  the  Reformation  in  resisting  the  claim  of 
the  Romish  church  to  exercise  civil  power.  Edward, 
who  succeeded  his  father,  was  favorable  to  the  Reforma- 
tion.    Mary,    who   succeeded    Edward,    was   a    Roman 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.     i8i 

Catholic  of  the  Spanish  type ;  she  was  followed  by  Eliza- 
beth, who  had  the  iron  will  of  her  father,  yet  the  subjects 
in  her  realm  being  as  they  were,  her  Parliament  as  it  was, 
the  international  relations  of  the  kingdom  as  they  were, 
it  is  difi&cult  to  see  how  she  could  have  acted  differently 
without  endangering  her  throne  and  plunging  Europe 
into  a  bloody  war.  The  outcome  was  that  a  Calvinistic 
creed  and  a  semi- Romish  polity  and  worship  were 
adopted  for  the  Anglican  church.  The  position  of  the 
Anglican  church  is  that  of  an  unstable  equilibrium. 
Hence,  the  tendency  is  towards  Rome,  or  to  recede,  as 
is  evidenced  by  high  church  and  low  church. 

What  is  known  as  the  orthodox  Congregational  Church 
combines  Calvinistic  theology  with  Congregational  polity. 
The  term  "Reformed,"  as  it  is  used  in  this  country,  is 
applied  to  Calvinistic  divisions  of  Protestants  of  British 
origin.  The  principal  of  these  who  do  not  adopt  the 
Westminster  symbols  are  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  North  America,  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  and 
the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States.  The  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America  is  the  result  of 
an  union  of  the  Associate  with  the  Associate  Reformed, 
which  was  itself  the  product  of  the  union  of  the  Re- 
formed and  Associate  churches.  The  Reformed  Church 
in  America  is  one  of  the  oldest  denominations  in  our 
country.  It  was  planted  by  the  settlers  in  New  Am- 
sterdam N.  Y.  as  early  as  1628.  Its  courts  include 
the  classes,  the  particular  synod,  and  the  general  synod. 
Its  principal  symbol  is  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  was  formed  in 
1747,  of  exiles  from  the  Palatinate.  The  theological 
school  at  Mercersburg  belongs  to  this  denomination. 
While  the  theology  is  Calvinistic,  it  is  not  of  a  rigid 
type.      The  form  of  worship  may  be  described  as  litur- 


1 82  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

gical.      These  are   the  principal   Reformed   churches  in 
North  America. 

In  the  sixth  General  Council  of  the  Alliance  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System, 
held  at  Glasgow  in  1896,  there  were  eighty-six  repre- 
sented; of  these,  thirty-six  adopt  the  Westminster 
Standards. 

Time  will  not  allow  any  more  minute  consideration  of 
their  points  of  contact  and  contrast,  nor  of  their  present 
relations.  I  close  this  paper  with  some  reflections  as  to 
their  outlook. 

The  centuries  are  behind  us,  but  the  millenniums  are 
before  us.  Much  has  been  gained  on  the  battle-grounds 
of  the  past.  The  cycles  of  history,  as  they  have  rolled 
on,  swept  away  environmertts  that  hampered  develop- 
ment and  checked  progress.  From  the  announcement  of 
the  protevangelium  until  the  song  of  annunciation  rang 
out  over  Judsean  hills,  every  cycle  of  the  history  widened 
out  the  horizon  and  projected  in  clearer  outline  on 
brighter  skies  the  scheme  of  redeeming  love.  The  in- 
troduction of  the  gospel  was  a  transition  from  Jewish 
legalism  to  free  grace. 

The  Reformation  broke  the  iron  grasp  of  the  papac}^ 
and  imposed  restrictions  upon  the  sceptre  of  emperors 
and  kings.  Much  was  gained  in  rescuing  the  church 
from  ecclesiastical  bondage  and  civil  domination.  It  was 
a  signal  epoch  in  asserting  the  spirituality  of  the  church 
and  vindicating  the  crown  rights  of  our  Lord.  And  it 
was  a  preparation  for  the  mitigation  of  the  barbarities  of 
intolerance. 

The  Reformed  churches  have  a  grand  mission  to  per- 
form for  this  poor,  sin-cursed  world.  Her  theology 
equips  her  for  it.  The  scheme  of  mercy  starts  from  God 
and  reaches  down  to  earth.      The  system  of  theology  of 


Churches  Holding  Westminster  Symbols.    183 

the  Reformed  churches  heads  in  and  starts  from  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God,  and,  reaching  down,  wakes  a  response 
in  the  cry  of  helplessness.  The  Reformed  churches 
have  always  emphasized  the  preaching  of  the  word. 
This  is  in  accord  with  the  divine  plan,  for  it  pleased  God 
to  save  men  by  preaching,  and  the  parting  words  of  the 
Master  are,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel,"  coupled  with  the  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

As  brightening  the  outlook,  I  remark  further  that  these 
churches  in  recent  times  seem  to  have  a  growing  realiza- 
tion of  the  obligation  and  the  glory  of  being  co-workers 
with  the  Godhead  in  the  consummation  of  the  crowning 
work  of  the  Trinity,  when  the  person  that  paid  the  price 
shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied. 

Note  further  the  territorial  extent  of  these  churches. 
They  girdle  the  world.  They  are  planted  in  papal  and 
pagan  lands.  Their  torches  are  blazing  on  all  the  coast- 
lines and  sending  their  beams  across  the  continents  of 
darkness. 

Some  see  discouragement  in  these  divisions  among  the 
Reformed  churches,  but  division  is  far  better  than  petri- 
faction and  corruption  in  unity.  Our  flag  is  the  same, 
our  marching-orders  the  same,  the  conquest  aimed  at  in 
all  the  campaigns  the  same.  This  is  no  day  for  faint- 
heartedness among  Crod's  people.  The  voice  of  pro- 
phecy and  of  history  emphasizes  the  great  commission  de- 
livered by  the  Master  when  he  took  his  departure  from 
earth,  and  imparts  significancy  to  the  promise  of  his 
speedy  return.  When  the  loving  and  earnest  cry  shall 
go  up  from  all  along  the  lines,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  co?ne 
quickly, ' '  then  may  be  heard  breaking  from  the  cleft  sky 
the  response,  "  Lo,  I  come."  I  am  no  enthusiast,  but 
the  Lord  is   coming   in   power,  love  and  grace,  and  he 


i84  The  Westminster  Asskmbly. 

will  come  as  soon  as  the  church  decks  herself  to  meet 
him. 

In  conclusion,  in  this  outlook  I  do  not  overlook  that 
other  grand  division  of  the  Protestant  church.  We 
would  not  if  we  could,  and  we  could  not  if  we  would, 
forget  that  grand  old  man  that  towers  in  history,  who 
threw  down  the  gauntlet  and  joined  issue  with  mitred 
popes  and  cardinals  and  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe. 
The  nailing  of  the  theses  on  the  door  of  the  old  church 
at  Wittenberg,  October  31,  15 17,  drew  a  line  across  the 
track  of  history  as  ineffaceable  as  did  the  Noachian  flood. 
The  Reformed  churches  can  never  forget  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  where  Martin  Luther  closed  his  memorable 
speech  with  the  words,  '''Here  I  stand;  I  can  do  nazight 
else.  God  help  me.  Amen.'''  The  Reformed  churches 
are  not  alone.  The  bugle  blast  is  heard  in  other  camps 
summoning  to  the  conflict.  It  may  be  that  the  clouds 
that  are  scurrying  across  the  political  sky  of  Eiurope  por- 
tend the  coming  of  a  storm  that  is  to  shake,  not  the 
earth  only,  but  also  heaven,  that  the  things  which  can- 
not be  shaken  may  remain.  When  that  time  comes, 
Reformed,  and  Lutheran,  and  Methodist,  too,  will  link 
shields.  And  when  the  conflict  is  over,  all  will  come 
and  pile  their  trophies  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  crown  him 
Lord  of  all. 


KEV.  MOSES  D.  HOGE,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


VIII.      . 

RELATION   OF  THE  WESTMINSTER   STANDARDS 
TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

BY 

Rev.   MOSES  D.   HOGE,  D.  D.,  LL  D., 

PASTOR    OF    THE    SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,   AT   RICHMOND,    VA 


1S5 


ANALYSIS. 

Commemorations  :  their  significance  and  value. — Westminster 
Abbey  and  its  associations. — Dean  Stanley. — Connection  be- 
tween the  Westminster  Standards  and  foreign  missions. — Influ- 
ence not  immediate.— Dark  Ages  after  the  apostolic  era. — The 
Reformation  not  a  foreign  missionary  era. — Hindrances  to  mis- 
sions after  the  publication  of  the  Westminster  Standards. — 
Blighting  influence  of  the  Moderate  party. — Ejectment  for  non- 
conformity.— The  Standards  not  an  original  fountain. — Early 
enterprises  marred  by  misconception  of  the  scriptural  plan  of 
missions. — Colonial  and  commercial  enterprises. — Men  in  ad- 
vance of  their  times. — Pathetic  failures. — Characteristic  of  our 
own  age. — The  church,  by  its  divine  constitution,  a  missionary 
organization. — The  recognition  of  this  principle  in  Scotland  and 
the  United  States. — Progress  of  missions  in  consequence. — Mis- 
sionary work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  that  of  other  de- 
nominations.— The  vast  number  of  communicants  and  adherents 
throughout  the  world. — Approval  of  Presbyterian  principles  and 
methods. — Lay  representation  and  ruling  elders. — The  aborig- 
ines of  our  own  country. — Eliot  and  Brainerd. — Two  typical 
missionaries,  Alexander  Duff  and  J.  Leighton  Wilson. — Con- 
gratulations from  an  O^^cumenical  Council. 


iS6 


VIII. 

RELATION   OF   THE   WESTMINSTER   STANDARDS 
TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 


PROBABLY  no  event  has  occurred  within  the  memory 
of  any  one  in  this  audience  so  calculated  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  our  Presbyterian  people  to  the  value  of 
the  Westminster  Standards  in  giving  direction  and  de- 
velopment to  the  social,  national,  and  eccle.siastical  life 
of  the  world  as  the  commemoration  of  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  formation. 

It  is  in  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  our 
General  Assembly  that  we  are  engaged  in  this  celebra- 
tion. Some  of  our  presbyteries  have  anticipated  us,  and 
great  audiences  have  been  gathered  to  listen  to  the 
stirring  addresses  of  speakers  appointed  for  the  purpose 
of  discussing  the  characteristic  truths  of  our  Confessions 
and  the  wide  influence  they  have  exerted  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years.  Our  religious  papers  and  even  the 
secular  press  has  caught  the  tune  of  the  time,  and  in 
numberless  editorials  and  communications  have  called 
public  attention  to  what  the  Presbyterians  are  doing. 

Our  Northern  brethren  in  their  General  Assembly, 
now  in  session,  will  take  up  the  theme  and  make  ar- 
rangements for  a  commemoration,  possibly  on  a  greater 
scale,  though  not  with  greater  enthusiasm  than  our  own. 
Throughout  the  vast  domain  in  which  their  churches 
are  thickly  planted,  eloquent  voices  will  rehearse  the 
history  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  and  recount  to 
listening  thousands  the  great  principles,  proclaimed  by 

187 


1 88  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

an  assembly  of  divines  such  as  England  never  before 
and  never  since  could  gather  for  the  consideration  of 
themes  of  such  sacred  and  surpassing  interest. 

Nor  will  these  commemorations  be  confined  to  our 
own  continent.  They  will  be  repeated  among  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking populations  of  many  lands,  and  thus  by  all 
the  diversified  agencies  I  have  enumerated  the  stor}^  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly  will  become  familiar  to  eager 
hearers,  whose  number  cannot  be  calculated. 

I  was  greatly  moved  by  the  address  of  my  distin- 
guished brother  from  Louisville,  and  especially  by  his 
graphic  description  of  the  most  historic  edifice  in  the 
world — Westminster  Abbey — and  his  portrayal  of  the 
scences  which  had  been  witnessed  in  the  Jerusalem 
Chamber.  I  can  only  compare  his  address  to  the  pic- 
ture he  gave  us  in  his  peroration  of  the  scenery  on  the 
Scottish  coast,  where  the  waves  of  ocean  had  carved  the 
clifts  in  shapes  of  rugged  grandeur,  and  yet  in  the 
crevices  of  the  clifts  grew  the  clambering  vines  and  the 
fragrant  flowers  which  gave  color,  tenderness,  and  soft- 
ness to  the  rocky  ramparts. 

It  so  happens  that  I  have  spent  more  time  in  the  city 
of  London  than  any  other  city  in  the  world  except 
Richmond  and  Baltimore.  There  is  in  London  no  public 
edifice,  secular  or  sacred,  which  I  have  entered  so  fre- 
quentl}^  as  Westminster  Abbey.  During  Dean  Stanle3''s 
visit  to  Richmond  something  happened  which  disposed 
him  to  do  me  some  favor.  I  had  just  returned  from 
England,  and  he  said :  "The  next  time  you  visit  Lon- 
don I  will  do  for  you  what  no  one  else  can  probably  do 
better.  I  will  .show  you  Westminster  Abbe}-."  He 
knew  that  I  was  already  familiar  with.,  the  building,  and 
I  knew  what  he  meant  by  the  offer.  There  was,  indeed, 
no  one  else  who  could   di.scant  so  eloquently  on  every 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       189 

chapel,  shrine,  and  monument.  It  so  happened  that  I 
returned  to  London  the  next  summer.  One  evening  I 
visited  the  Abbey.  No  tourists  were  there.  I  had  the 
stately,  solemn  pile  all  to  myself  for  a  brief,  impressive 
sea.son.  You  may  imagine  how  startled  I  was  as  I 
slowly  made  my  way  down  the  aisle  when  I  was  sud- 
denly confronted  with  the  marble  on  which  was  in- 
scribed Arthur  Penrhyji  Stanley,  and  standing  there  re- 
membered that  he  who  less  than  a  twelvemonth  before 
had  so  kindly  promised  to  be  my  guide-  was  now  lying 
in  the  dark  crypt  beneath. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  apartments  of  the  Abbey 
is  the  Jerusalem  Chamber.  Of  this  I  need  not  speak. 
The  address  just  referred  to  has  described  the  place  so 
graphically,  and  has  so  impressed  the  associations  con- 
nected with  it,  that  you  feel  as  if  you  had  personally 
seen  what  has  been  so  clearly  depicted.  It  is  what 
transpired  in  that  chamber  two  and  a  half  centuries  ago 
that  so  deeply  interests  us  now. 

In  such  commemorations  there  is  a  great  moral  element. 
Sometimes  it  is  good  to  get  free  from  the  narrow  envi- 
ronments of  the  immediate  present  and  ascend  some 
eminence  which  commands  a  view  of  ways  long  since 
trodden,  and  then,  from  what  is  taught  in  the  review, 
learn  to  forecast  the  ever-widening  way  of  the  future. 
It  is  only  by  such  studies  that  we  catch  the  spirit  of  the 
great  historic  eras  which  have  been  potent  in  shaping 
the  institutions  of  our  own  times.  It  is  onh^  when  we 
can  transport  ourselves  to  the  distant  past  and  evoke  from 
its  obscurity  the  forms  of  its  heroic  men ;  it  is  only  when 
we  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  errors  they  combated,  the 
difficulties  they  surmounted,  the  hardships  they  endured, 
that  we  can  fully  comprehend  the  character  of  the  men 
who  thus  toiled  and  suifered,  or  appreciate  the  value  of 


igo  The  Wkstminster  Assembly. 

their  lives,  or  trace  the  influence  of  their  examples  and 
principles  upon  succeeding  generations.  Thus  placing 
ourselves  among  them,  we  take  a  new  interest  in  the 
men  themselves  and  in  the  work  they  achieved,  and 
while  we  embalm  their  memories  in  grateful  recollection, 
we  catch  the  fire  which  yet  lives  in  their  ashes,  and  we 
feel  the  inspiration  which  their  great  examples  of  devo- 
tion to  duty  enkindles  in  our  hearts. 

It  was  my  office  to  make  an  address  on  "The  Educa- 
tional Influence  of  Presbyterianism  on  National  Life ' '  at 
our  council  in  Glasgow  la,st  summer.  On  another  mem- 
orable occasion  I  discussed  ' '  The  Influence  of  the  West- 
minster Standards  on  the  Religious  Thought  of  After 
Times. ' '  The  connection  between  the  principles  embodied 
in  these  Standards  and  the  development  of  a  noble  national 
life  is  obvious.  So,  too,  is  their  potency  in  shaping  the  reli- 
gious opinions  of  those  who  come  in  contact  with  them. 
But  the  relation  between  our  Standards  and  foreign  mis- 
sions is  not  at  once  apparent.  It  is  difficult  to  trace, 
historically,  with  satisfactory  clearness,  any  such  imme- 
diate influence  as  would  place  Presbyterians  in  advance 
of  other  Protestant  denominations  either  as  to  priority 
in  time  or  successful  activity  in  missionary  work. 

It  is  one  of  the  happy  facts  in  the  history  of  missions 
that  God  has  been  pleased  to  bless  with  increase  and 
progress  all  branches  of  the  Christian  church  which  hold 
by  common  agreement  to  the  fundamental  truths  of  sal- 
vation. We  are  often  reminded  that  each  branch  of  the 
church  propagating  truth  in  its  own  way  is  like  one  of 
the  primary  colors,  each  beautiful  in  its  own  hue,  while 
it  is  the  blended  light  of  all  these  varied  tints  that  con- 
stitutes the  pure,  white  light  of  day.  It  requires  the 
whole  brotherhood  of  the  redeemed  to  reflect  the  beauty 
and  glory  of  the  altogether  lovely. 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       191 

In  listening  to  the  addresses  which  have  made  this 
session  of  our  General  Assembly  so  memorable,  I  have 
observed  no  disposition  to  arrogate  to  Presbyterian  doc- 
trine and  church  government  any  such  preeminence  as 
would  be  offensive  to  brethren  of  other  denominations 
or  displeasing  to  One  to  whom  assumptions  of  superi- 
ority and  self-glorification  may  be  regarded  as  injustice 
to  other  members  of  his  family  equally  dear  to  him. 

We  may  be  grateful  for  the  possession  of  such  a  clear, 
concise,  symmetrical  system  of  truth  as.  that  contained 
in  our  Confessions,  and  for  a  form  of  government  so 
simple  and  so  easily  adapted  to  all  the  exigencies  of 
church  life  and  to  all  the  varied  conditions  of  humanity 
arising  from  culture,  social  position,  and  distinctive 
characteristics  of  race,  and  at  the  same  time  we  may  be 
conscious  that  we  have  often  been  slow  to  take  advant- 
age of  our  endowments  and  opportunities.  If  we  have 
been  remiss  or  tardy  in  illustrating  our  own  principles 
in  their  power  to  inspire  the  most  practical  activity,  we 
ought  not  to  complain  if  others  have  applied  these  prin- 
ciples more  readily  and  vigorously  than  ourselves. 

We  can  see  that  our  Standards  ought  to  have  kindled 
the  missionary  spirit  as  it  did  the  spirit  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty.  It  did  kindle  the  latter  transcendently, 
triumphantly,  whenever  tyranny  in  the  state  and  despot- 
ism in  the  church  attempted  to  nullify  the  rights  of  citi- 
zens or  to  invade  the  sacred  domain  of  conscience.  But 
we  are  sadly  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  early  efforts 
made  to  suppress  any  organized  movement  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  heathen  world,  not  only  in  other  churches, 
but  in  our  own.  Who  has  not  remembered  with  grieved 
surprise  the  ruling  of  the  senior  member  of  an  Associa- 
tion when  a  young  man,  who  subsequently  became  one 
of  the  most  eminent  of  missionaries,  proposed  for  the  con- 


192  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

sideration  of  the  body  the  duty  of  sending  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen,  was  peremptorily  ordered  to  sit  down, 
the  command  being  accompanied  by  an  assertion  of  the 
venerable  father,  "  When  it  pleases  God  to  convert  the 
heathen  he  will  do  it  without  j^our  aid  or  mine."  It 
was  not,  however,  in  an  Association  but  in  a  Presbyte- 
rian General  Assembly  that  a  similar  proposition  to  send 
the  gospel  to  the  heathen  was  treated  not  only  as  an 
unnatural,  but  also  as  a  revolutionary  design.  This 
was  in  1796,  but  even  as  late  as  the  year  1824,  when  a 
few  of  the  students  of  St.  Andrews  formed  themselves 
into  a  missionary  society,  the  authorities  of  the  univer- 
sity would  not  assign  them  a  room  for  their  meetings, 
and  one  of  the  students  in  after  years  published  the 
statement  that  during  the  whole  course  of  his  theological 
training  not  a  single  reference  was  ever  made  to  the 
subject  of  the  world's  evangelization,  as  if  the  function 
of  the  church  was  to  conserve  all  the  blessings  of  the 
covenant  of  grace  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  had  already 
received  them. 

When  Dr.  Duff  returned  to  Scotland  to  recruit  after 
the  failure  of  his  health  in  India,  and  to  awaken  the 
missionary  zeal  of  his  countr>'men,  he  found  them  so 
absorbed  in  certain  political  questions,  very  important  in 
themselves,  no  doubt,  especially  those  which  affected 
their  ecclesiastical  interests,  that  it  was  difficult  at  first 
to  obtain  a  hearing,  and  when  he  proposed  to  visit  the 
presbyteries  that  he  might  portray  what  he  llad  seen  and 
heard  of  the  wants  and  woes  of  the  populous  East,  and 
to  enkindle  the  enthusiasm  of  his  people  in  reference 
to  the  illimitable  field  white  for  the  harvest,  his  proposi- 
tion was  received  with  doubts  and  fears  by  some,  and 
with  blank  amazement  by  others. 

It  is  true  that  he  finally  gained  the  ear  and  heart  of 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.        193 

the  church,  and  the  discouragement  he  suffered  at  first 
only  made  his  ultimate  success  more  conspicuous  by  the 
contrast.  These  grave  doubts,  and  the  graver  opposition 
encountered  by  the  friends  of  foreign  missions  long  after 
the  work  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  had  been  com- 
pleted, now  excite  our  wonder  and  grief,  especially  when 
we  remember  that  the  great  principles  which  give  divine 
sanction  and  encouragement  to  the  duty  of  attempting 
the  evangelization  of  all  nations  were  all  embodied  in 
those  Standards. 

As  a  summary  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  word  of 
God ;  as  a  code  of  Christian  ethics  ;  as  a  concise  state- 
ment of  the  government,  discipline  and  worship  of  the 
church  as  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  they  stand  un- 
rivalled among  all  human  expositions  of  sacred  truth. 
We  have  the  demonstration  of  this  fact  in  the  admirable 
volume  recently  issued  by  our  Committee  of  Publication, 
entitled  The  Presbyterian  Standards,  composed  by  a  pro- 
fessor in  one  of  our  theological  seminaries — a  work  char- 
acterized by  the  judicial  fairness  of  its  statements,  the 
clearness  of  its  analysis,  the  simplicity  of  its  style,  and 
the  reverential  loyalty  and  love  for  the  church  and  its 
divine  head  which  suffuses  it,  in  which  the  author  makes 
it  plain  that  the  duty  of  the  church  in  reference  to  the 
conversion  of  the  world  is  everywhere  implied  in  these 
Standards,  and  may  be  logically  inferred  from  their  teach- 
ings, inasmuch  as  the  whole  theory  and  trend  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic  system  makes  the  evangelization  of  the  nations 
the  chief  enterprise  of  the  church.  "God,  through 
Christ,  by  the  Spirit,  has  given  the  message  of  life  to  the 
church,  and  the  church  in  turn  is  to  give  this  saving 
message  to  the  whole  world. ' '  Such  is  the  teaching  of 
the  Westminster  Standards.  But  if  it  be  asked  why  did 
not  the  churches  into  whose  possession  they  came  imme- 


194  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

diately  recognize  their  obligation,  it  might  also  be  asked 
why  did  not  the  churches  which  succeeded  the  apostolic 
era  of  missionary  enterprise  continue  to  prosecute  the 
work  which  made  that  era  the  golden  age  in  missionary 
annals?  Why  came  the  ages  denominated  "dark," 
whose  darkness  was  made  all  the  more  visible  by  the 
few  illuminated  points  where  apostolic  fer\'or  still  sur- 
vived amidst  the  general  gloom?  Why,  with  equal  em- 
phasis it  might  be  asked,  was  not  the  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century  immediately  followed  by  a  great  mis- 
sionary revival?  We  might  take  it  for  granted  that  such 
a  reformation  could  not  have  been  an  accomplished  fact 
without  kindling  in  the  souls  of  those  who  had  been 
irradiated  by  its  light  an  inextinguishable  desire  to  send 
the  gospel  to  the  benighted  portions  of  the  earth  which 
had  never  been  touched  by  its  beams.  Here  and  there, 
indeed,  this  desire  had  found  practical  expression  in  the 
isolated  efforts  to  send  missionaries  into  fields  never 
trodden  by  the  messengers  of  peace.  But  even  the  great 
leaders  of  the  Reformation  do  not  seem  to  have  had  a 
clear  conception  of  the  all-comprehending  purpose  of 
their  Lord  in  the  universal  extension  of  his  kingdom  or 
of  the  corresponding  obligations  of  his  people.  "All 
the  world ' '  was  a  field  so  vast  that  the  Reformed  churches 
just  emerging  from  the  ignorance  and  superstition  which 
had  so  long  enthralled  them,  and  struggling  to  maintain 
their  own  existence  amidst  surrounding  foes  so  formid- 
able and  aggressive,  found  enough  to  tax  their  energies 
to  the  utmost  in  guarding  what  they  had  won.  The 
evangelization  even  of  the  contiguous  nations,  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  new  faith,  was  an  undertaking  too  great 
for  their  resources.  Even  Luther  at  times  despaired  of 
the  universal  triumph  of  the  gospel.  The  gentle  Me- 
lanchthon  left  on  record  no  statement  of  his  anticipations 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       195 

of  the  day  when  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  would  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  their  Lord.  Erasmus  alone,  whose 
birth  twenty-three  years  before  that  of  Luther,  placed 
him,  as  it  were,  on  the  boundary  line  of  the  Reformation 
era,  and  who  was  so  often  irresolute  when  decision  was 
demanded  and  ready  to  compromise  when  truth  was  at 
stake,  was  in  advance  of  his  co-temporaries  in  his  clear 
conception  of  the  duty  of  the  church  to  evangelize  the 
heathen  world,  and  seemed  to  catch  more  of  the  spirit  of 
the  glowing  verse  of  David  and  Isaiah,  when,  with  the 
light  of  the  coming  morning  in  their  eyes,  they  hailed 
the  day  when  the  Gentile  world  would  rejoice  in  the 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  His  sweetest  song 
was  his  last,  when  in  his  celebrated  missionary  treatise, 
published  the  year  before  his  death,  he  rebuked  Chris- 
tian nations  for  making  war  upon  the  heathen  instead  of 
striving  to  woo  and  win  them  to  Christ,  and  so  taught 
the  men  of  his  generation  that  it  was  not  the  mailed 
hand  of  the  warrior  but  the  ministering  hand  of  the  ser- 
vants of  the  Prince  of  Peace  that  would  ultimately  rule 
the  world !  Had  this  been  the  spirit  of  his  co-tempora- 
ries, the  melancholy  admission  made  by  one  of  our 
standard  writers  on  missions  might  not  have  been  put  on 
record,  in  which  it  is  asserted  that,  ' '  from  the  (Lutheran) 
awakening  down  to  the  work  of  Carey  in  Serampore, 
during  three  centuries  the  Reformed  churches  were 
asleep  as  to  missions,  spending  their  time  in  internal 
dissentions ' ' ;  nor  the  admission  of  another  historian 
who  declares  that  "as  to  Protestant  foreign  missions 
the  Reformation  had  only  indirect  or  long-delayed  re- 
sults." 

When  after  the.dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament  and 
the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  the  "Act  of  Uniformity" 
was  passed,  and  when  the  memorable  day  in  1662  came. 


196  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

on  which  more  than  two  thousand  of  the  most  learned 
and  godly  ministers  in  England  were  ejected  from  their 
charges  (six  hundred  of  their  brethren  in  Scotland  also 
abandoning  their  livings),  and  when  their  congregations 
were  compelled  to  meet  by  stealth,  if  they  met  at  all,  in 
desolate  fields  or  on  the  lonely  mountain-side,  surprise 
has  been  expressed  that  when  prohibited  from  preaching 
the  gospel  at  home  they  did  not  fly  to  foreign  lands  and 
there  find  the  opportunity  denied  them  in  their  own 
land.  But  those  who  reason  thus  forget  the  insurmount- 
able obstacles  arising  from  the  impossibility  of  co-opera- 
tion, or  from  ignorance  of  openings  for  missionary  ser- 
vice in  foreign  lands,  and  the  want  of  any  base  of  sup- 
ply and  support  at  home.  We  see  the  providential 
compensation  for  this  hindrance  in  the  fact  that  when 
the  tongue  was  silent  the  pen  was  never  more  active  or 
more  efficiently  employed,  for  that  was  the  period  when 
those  massive  volumes  of  practical  and  polemic  the- 
ology were  composed,  learned,  logical,  scriptural,  and  all 
suffused  with  the  very  sweetness  of  the  gospel,  constitut- 
ing the  noblest  religious  literature  that  has  made  any 
age  of  the  world  illustrious.  Among  those  silenced  by 
the  Act  of  Uniformity  were  Flavel,  Baxter,  Owen,  Char- 
nock,  Bates,  Alleine,  and  Howe.  None  of  them  had 
been  members  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  but  their 
writings  were  the  noblest  commentaries  on  the  Confes- 
sions and  Catechisms  of  that  Assembly,  and  saturated 
with  their  spirit.  This  was  England's  golden  age  of 
theology,  and  the  men  who  made  it  illustrious  doubtless 
rendered  a  more  enduring  service  to  evangelical  religion 
than  they  could  have  done,  at  that  perturbed  period,  in 
the  missionary  field. 

We  should  not  expect  too  much  in  the  way  of  direct 
and  immediate  stimulation  to  foreign  missions  from  our 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       197 

Westminster  Standards  for  another  reason.  These 
Standards,  instead  of  being  an  original  fountain,  formed 
a  rese?  voir  into  which  the  heaUhf ul  waters  from  many  an 
ancient  river  emptied  themselves. 

We  find  a  parallel  to  this  in  the  Constitution  of  our 
country,  defining  the  form  of  government  and  providing 
for  the  security  of  the  institutions  under  which  we  have 
made  such  progress  in  prosperity  and  power.  But  if  it 
should  be  asked,  What  were  the  influences  which  gave 
birth  to  these  institutions  which  constitute  such  a  pre- 
cious heritage,  it  would  not  be  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
say  that  they  were  the  creations  of  the  patriots  and  sages 
who  framed  our  Constitution  and  declarations  of  right, 
for  the  question  would  recur.  From  what  sources  did  they 
derive  the  principles  embodied  in  these  Codes  and  Con- 
stitutions ? 

Did  the  masterly  state  papers,  filled  with  philosophic 
inductions  and  with  lucid  expression  of  the  profoundest 
maxims  of  political  wisdom  and  unanswerable  demon- 
strations of  popular  right,  such  as  commanded  the  admi- 
ration of  the  wisest  statemen  in  the  old  world,  spring 
spontaneously  from  the  soil  like  the  giant  trees  of  the 
Western  forests? 

We  give  all  honor  to  patriot  statesmen  who  built  up 
the  visible  structure  of  our  government,  but  the  noble 
Constitution  which  they  framed  was  not  their  invention. 
Their  task  was  to  formulate  and  put  down  upon  parch- 
ment the  clearest  statement  of  the  principles  which  had 
been  throbbing  in  the  bosoms  of  patriots  and  struggling 
for  expression  through  generations  of  conflict  for  the 
right.  "It  was,"  as  has  well  been  said,  "not  the  foun- 
tain out  of  which  the  streams  of  liberty  flowed,  but  the 
reservoir  into  which  a  thousand  little  rills  had  been  run- 
ning until  finally  it  overflowed  with  waters  to  refresh  a 
continent." 


198  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

So  we  may  say  of  the  great  compendium  of  truth 
formulated  by  the  Westminster  divines.  Its  tributaries 
from  apostolic  times,  through  all  subsequent  ages,  though 
sometimes  small  and  often  intermittent,  never  ceased  to 
flow.  For  purity  of  doctrine,  conservation  of  what  is 
fittest  to  survive,  and  antagonism  to  all  that  is  fittest  to 
perish ;  for  condensation  of  great  truths  expressed  in  the 
fewest  words,  these  Standards,  by  the  admission  of  those 
who  have  no  sympathy  with  Presbyterianism,  are  un- 
rivalled among  all  uninspired  writings.  They  gather 
up  the  cardinal  truths  enunciated  through  all  the  ages 
and  present  them  in  the  most  concise  form.  Their  supe- 
riority consists  not  in  the  originality  of  the  truths  them- 
selves, but  in  condensing  what  was  best  in  all  the  theo- 
logical systems  of  the  past,  and  presenting  them  in  the 
tersest  and  most  intelligible  form.  We  may  say  of  the 
Westminster  Standards  what  was  said  of  the  proverbial 
philosophy  of  many  generations : 

"The  truth,  though  old  and  oft  expressed, 
Is  his  at  last  who  says  it  best." 

Such  a  distillation  from  the  divine  word,  like  that 
word  itself,  is  the  leaven  which  slowly,  certainly,  must 
pervade  the  whole  mass  until  all  is  assimilated.  ' '  If  the 
vision  tarry,  we  must  wait  for  it,"  remembering  that — 

"Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

The  progress  of  the  gospel  is  not  always  like  the 
march  of  a  well-disciplined  army  of  invasion,  gaining 
victories  in  every  conflict,  holding  fast  the  strategic 
points  it  has  captured,  one  b)^  one,  until  the  whole  terri- 
tory is  occupied.  It  is  rather  like  an  oriental  river  issu- 
ing from  perennial  fountains  and  flowing  on  \Aath  a 
deepening  and  widening  current  until  it  encounters  the 
desert  sands  into  v/liich  it  sinks  and  becomes  apparently 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       199 

a  lost  river,  but  only  after  awhile  to  reappear  again  and 
resume  its  onward  flow. 

Such  a  temporary  arrest  was  seen  when  the  era  char- 
acterized by  heroic  men  loyal  to  the  truth,  resolute  in 
defending  it,  not  counting  their  possessions  or  even  their 
lives  dear  to  them  if  secured  by  the  sacrifice  of  principle, 
was  followed  by  another,  and,  perhaps,  the  most  spirit- 
less, colorless,  and  unattractive  era  in  British  annals. 

When  we  are  enumerating  the  hindrances  which  re- 
tarded the  influence  of  the  Westminster  Standards  in 
awakening  a  spirit  of  universal  and  earnest  evangelism, 
we  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  almost  mortal  chill 
■which  came  to  the  church  from  the  rise  of  what  was 
called  the  Moderate  Party.  It  was  a  party  destitute  not 
only  of  heroic  enterprise,  but  of  the  strong  convictions 
w^hich  make  heroic  enterprise  possible.  Fifty  years  be- 
fore Great  Britain  was  in  the  noontide  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  achievement.  It  was  an  era  made  luminous  by 
a  constellation  of  illustrious  statesmen,  jurists  and  di- 
vines— the  era  of  Milton  and  Hampden  and  Bunyan,  of 
Paradise  Lost  and  the  Pilgrim.' s  Progress  and  the  Saifits' 
Everlasting  Rest;  the  era  of  consecrated  soldiers  of  the 
country  and  of  the  cross,  who  marched  to  battle  keeping 
step  to  the  music  of  Psalms  ;  when  mighty  theologians 
built  up  those  massive  systems  of  truth  which  no  adver- 
sary could  shake ;  when  the  gospel  was  preached  with 
apostolic  fervor,  and  the  church,  loyal  to  its  King,  stood 
like  a  palace  built  for  God. 

Then  came  the  sad  decline.  There  were,  indeed, 
many  sincere  and  devout  men  still  surviving,  but  the 
majority  of  the  divines  of  the  day  spent  their  lives,  as 
we  are  told,  in  writing  apologies  for  Christianity,  in 
rhetorical  tilts  with  infidels  and  papists,  or  in  delivering 
moral  lectures  such  as  Seneca  might  have  inspired,  and 


200  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

sermons  which  were  feeble  dilutions  of  Plato  with  the 
text  from  St.  Paul. 

But  God  had  not  forgotten  to  be  gracious ;  the  sand- 
sunken  river  was  not  a  lost  river.  Like  a  breath  from 
the  everlasting  hills  came  the  evangelical  revival  of 
which  Whitfield  was  the  outstanding  representative — at 
once  the  flower  and  crown,  and  with  that  time  of  re- 
freshing came  a  return  to  the  first  love  and  to  the  first 
works  inspired  by  that  love,  so  that  the  wilderness  and 
the  solitary  place  were  made  glad  again,  and  the  desert 
rejoiced  and  blossomed  as  the  rose. 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  early  tentative  missionary  en- 
terprises, whether  undertaken  by  Protestant  Hollanders 
or  German  Lutheran  Pietists  or  zealous  evangelists  of 
Denmark,  Sweden  or  the  British  Isles.  Some  of  these 
well-meant  endeavors  were  marred  by  misconceptions  of 
the  true  theory  of  missions  ;  some  of  them  were  migra- 
tory rather  than  missionary,  emigrations  to  escape  perse- 
cution, or  colonial,  to  found  new  states  where  the  hope  of 
commercial  advantages  was  the  chief  incentive,  or  where 
the  religious  instruction  was  superficial  and  vitiated  by 
compromises  with  heathen  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  where 
mercenary  motives  were  the  inducements  to  profess 
Christianity.  And  yet  during  all  that  era  of  imperfect 
comprehension  of  the  true  methods  of  mission  work 
there  were  a  few  devout  souls,  far  in  advance  of  their 
time,  who  were  filled  with  an  unutterable  longing  to  speed 
the  cause  of  evangelization  in  ways  which  modern  ex- 
perience has  proved  to  be  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord. 

They  failed  because  the  age  was  not  ready  for  them. 
There  is  something  pathetic  in  such  failures.  They  re- 
mind us  of  the  strong  swimmer  unable  to  resist  the 
multitudinous  waves  of  the  sea,  and  so,  unheeded  and 
unappreciated,  they  went  down  with  their  sublimest  as- 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       201 

pirations  unfulfilled.  That  day,  thank  God,  has  passed. 
The  man  who  has  something  to  say  and  something  gen- 
erous to  propose  will  get  hearers  and  helpers,  too,  and 
will  reap  the  reward  of  an  influence  multiplied  by  the 
co-operation  of  sympathetic  co-workers,  with  a  whole 
brotherhood  about  him,  all  swayed  by  one  motive,  all 
moving  compactly  to  one  end,  like  David's  men  keeping 
step  with  unbroken  ranks  in  the  march  to  conflict  and 
victory.  It  is  this  which  makes  the  present  the  most 
auspicious  period  of  the  world  in  which  to  live;  it  is 
this  which  makes  each  individual  life  worth  more  to  its 
possessor  and  to  the  public  than  ever  before.  It  is  some- 
thing to  thank  God  for  when  one  lives  at  a  time  when 
the  church  regards  itself  a  divinely  organized  missionary 
society,  whose  chief  aspiration  is  the  conversion  of  the 
world. 

The  true  theory  of  missions  is  one  that  clearly  recog- 
nizes the  fact  that  the  great  head  of  the  church  has  not 
only  committed  to  it  the  truths  necessary  to  salvation, 
but  has  provided  it  with  the  government,  the  laws,  the 
ofl&ces,  and  the  equipment  for  building  up  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  extending  its  conquests  through  the  world. 
This  is  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  the 
Westminster  Standards,  in  proof  of  which  we  need  only 
quote  their  noble  testimony:  "Unto  this  catholic,  visi- 
ble church  Christ  has  given  the  ministry,  the  oracles  and 
ordinances  of  God  for  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the 
saints  in  this  life  and  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  this 
he  doth  by  his  own  presence  and  Spirit,  according  to  his 
promise,  made  effectual  thereto."  Thus  are  the  scat- 
tered sheep  "gathered"  from  the  North  and  the  South, 
the  East  and  the  West,  into  the  safe  and  happy  fold  of 
the  Good  Shepherd. 

By  its   divine  constitution   the    church   is,    therefore. 


202  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

qualified  to  secure  all  the  spiritual  ends  for  which  it  was 
instituted,  and  is  in  itself  a  missionary  society  of  which 
every  communicant  is  a  member ;  and  as  each  one  has  a 
recognized  place  in  it  because  of  its  representative  form 
of  government,  this  very  fact  is  calculated  to  enlist  the 
sympathies,  to  deepen  the  sense  of  responsibility,  and  to 
stimulate  to  the  most  earnest,  practical  activity  on  the 
part  of  every  member  of  the  great  household  of  faith. 

The  coronation  of  the  true  missionary  method  came 
when  the  great  principle,  so  long  latent  in  the  Westmin- 
ster Standards,  or  finding  only  partial  recognition,  re- 
ceived its  noblest  expression  when  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land because  the  first  church  after  the  Reformation  to 
send  forth  missionaries  under  its  own  immediate  appoint- 
ment, thus  setting  its  solemn  seal  to  the  truth  that  the 
church,  by  its  constitution  and  divinely-ordained  pur- 
pose, was  a  society  for  the  maintenance  and  extension 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  throughout  the  whole   world. 

The  second  church,  in  its  organized,  ecclesiastical  ca- 
pacity, to  recognize  this  obligation  was  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  professor  in  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  Virginia,  near  the  close  of  his  life 
dictated  an  overture  to  be  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
1831,  with  a  preamble,  asserting  that  it  was  the  primary 
and  chief  object  of  the  institution  of  the  church  to  com- 
municate the  blessings  of  the  gospel  to  the  world  with 
the  efficiency  of  united  effort,  and  this  was  followed  by 
a  series  of  resolutions,  the  first  of  which  was,  "That  the 
Presbyteiian  Church  m  the  United  States  is  a  missionary 
society^  and  every  member  of  the  church  is  a  life  mem- 
ber of  the  same,  and  bound  in  maintenance  of  his  Chris- 
tian character  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  object."     Another  resolution  enjoined 


Thk  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       203 

upon  church  sessions  in  admitting  new  members  to 
state  distinctly  to  the  candidates  that  they  were  joining 
a  community  the  object  of  which  was  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen  world,  and  to  impress  on  their  minds  a  deep 
sense  of  their  obligation,  as  redeemed  sinners,  to  co- 
operate in  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  object  of 
Christ's  own  mission  to  mankind. 

Wonderful  has  been  the  change  in  the  aspect  of  the 
foreign  mission  field  since  the  adoption  of  that  principle. 
A  new  hope,  like  a  star,  has  risen  on  the  vision  of  the 
church,  and  the  splendid  result  has  been  the  planting  of 
the  cross  among  the  kindreds  and  tongues  of  every  con- 
tinent of  the  globe,  and  in  numberless  islands  of  the  sea. 
The  glowing  anticipations  of  Isaiah  are  finding  their 
liistoric  fulfilment,  as  the  spiritual  deserts  of  the  earth 
blossom  as  the  rose,  and  the  solitary  places,  so  long 
silent,  rejoice  with  joy  and  singing  in  the  light  and 
warmth  of  the  coming  kingdom. 

At  the  meeting  of  our  alliance  last  summer  in  Glasgow, 
Professor  Lindsay  said  it  would  be  well  if  that  Council 
could  give  to  all  the  various  churches  represented  in  it 
an  account  of  the  great  work  that  Presbyterians,  as  a 
corporate  body,  were  doing  for  the  heathen  nations,  and 
among  other  things  informed  them  that  the  Presbyterian 
churches  do  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  whole  mission 
work  among  the  heathen  that  is  done  by  all  the  Protes- 
tant churches  together.  He  also  mentions  by  name, 
though  not  invidiously,  three  great  denominations,  and 
asserts  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  doing  more  in  the 
foreign  field  than  all  of  them  combined. 

It  is  well,  also,  to  keep  our  people  informed  of  the  fact 
that  after  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  all 
the  Reformed  churches  of  the  world,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Anglican  and  Lutheran,  adopted  the  Presbyterian 


204  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

system  of  doctrine  and  form  of  church  government,  and 
now  those  who  hold  that  faith  and  form  throughout 
Europe,  America  and  the  Orient,  constitute  the  largest 
Protestant  denomination  on  the  globe.  It  surprises 
many  of  our  own  people  to  be  told  this  because  they  are 
accustomed  to  measure  the  numerical  strength  of  Presb}^- 
terianism  everywhere  by  what  they  know  to  be  true  in 
our  own  country,  where  at  least  two  denominations 
greatly  outnumber  our  own ;  and  because  many  large 
organizations,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  while  not 
called  Presbyterian  are  strictly  so.  They  may  be  known 
by  different  names;  the}^  may  be  called  Waldensian,  or 
Bohemian,  or  Dutch,  or  they  may  bear,  as  many  of  them 
do,  nothing  more  than  the  title,  "Reformed,"  but  they 
all  are  as  truly  Presbyterian  as  those  which  are  known 
by  that  name,  and  when  the  members  and  adherents  of 
these  different  branches  of  the  one  family  are  enumerated 
it  is  ascertained  that  the  Presbyterian  is  the  largest  Pro- 
testant church  in  Christendom.  It  is  true  mere  numbers 
do  not  prove  orthodoxy,  but  they  become  an  important 
factor  in  determining  the  progress  of  a  denomination  and 
its  hold  on  the  public  conscience  as  well  as  in  forecasting 
its  advancement  and  widening  influence  in  the  future. 
It  is  deeply  gratifying  to  note  the  approval  which  other 
denominations  give  to  the  distinctive  characteristics  of 
Presbyterianism.  This  approval  may  not  be  expressed 
in  words,  but  it  is  tacitly  given,  and  is  an  endorsement 
as  far  as  it  goes.  The  Baptists  agree  with  us  in  our 
views  of  ministerial  parity.  Episcopalians  and  Method- 
ists are  in  accord  with  us  as  to  the  subjects  and  mode  of 
baptism.  The  Baptist  Church  is,  in  the  main,  a  Calvin- 
ist  church,  and  so  is  the  Episcopal  if  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  express  its  doctrinal  belief.  And  what  concerns 
us  more  just  now  is  the  virtual  testimony  of  other  de- 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       205 

nominations  to  the  value  of  an  officer  like  the  ruling 
elder  in  the  missionary  field.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
is  the  only  one  that  recognizes  and  makes  constant  and 
efficient  use  of  that  ofiicej"  both  in  home  and  foreign  en- 
terprises. When  its  ministers  are  driven  away  by  perse- 
cution or  removed  by  death,  the  work  need  not  cease 
while  ordained  elders  are  there  to  gather  the  converts, 
and  read  and  expound  to  them  the  truths  of  God's  word 
and  to  exhort  them  to  be  steadfast  in  the  faith  of  the 
chief  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  and  to  pray  and  hope 
for  the  time  when  under-shepherds  may  be  restored  to 
guide  and  nurture  the  flock. 

In  all  Protestant  non-Presbyterian  denominations 
there  is  an  ever-growing  tendency  towards  a  representa- 
tive church  government  in  which  the  lay  element  is  a 
factor;  and  in  the  foreign  field  among  such  churches 
there  is  a  conscious  want  of  such  an  agency  as  that 
which  the  eldership  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  supplies, 
as  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  substitutes  for  such 
offices  are  called  into  service  to  give  new  stability  and 
efficiency  to  missionary  work. 

Thus  in  our  Standards  there  are,  doubtless,  other 
latent  principles,  unappreciated  because  unrecognized, 
until  in  the  providence  of  God  new  conditions  and  new 
exigencies  arise  which  compel  attention  to  their  value 
among  all  Christian  men  who  are  ready  to  welcome  and 
make  practical  use  of  any  methods,  no  matter  from  what 
source  they  come,  by  which  their  work  is  accelerated 
and  crowned  with  greater  success.  Not  only  are  these 
principles  potent  in  aggressive  work,  but  they  anticipate 
and  antagonize  errors  which  at  the  time  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly  had  no  existence.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  the  modern  theor>^  of  "  the  larger  hope, " 
or  "second  probation"   for  the  heathen  in  the  world  to 


2o6  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

come — a  theory  calculated  to  weaken  the  conviction  of  the 
need  of  missions  among  the  heathen,  and  thus  to  abate  the 
efforts  of  the  church  to  maintain  them.  Our  Standards 
give  no  intimation  of  another  opportunity  to  hear  the  gos- 
pel between  death  and  the  resurrection.  In  the  case  or 
the  righteous  they  assert  that  their  souls  are  made  perfect 
at  death  and  do  immediately  pass  into  glory.  In  the  case 
of  the  wicked  they  pass  into  the  abode  of  the  lost,  where 
they  remain  reserved  to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day, 
"when  they  shall  have  the  fearful  but  just  sentence  of 
condemnation  pronounced  against  them."  As  surely  as 
sentence  is  pronounced  it  will  be  executed,  and  as  the 
result  the  wicked  ' '  shall  be  cast  out  from  the  favorable 
presence  of  God  and  forever  separated  from  the  fellowship 
and  glory  of  Christ  and  of  his  saints  and  of  the  holy 
angels." 

Among  the  missionary  enterprises  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  most  interesting,  to  us  at  least,  are  those 
which  contemplated  the  evangelization  of  the  aborigines 
of  our  own  continent. 

These  efforts  possess  a  pathetic  and  almost  tragic  in- 
terest because  undertaken  in  behalf  of  a  people  who  were 
once  the  sole  owners  of  the  vast  domain  now  occupied  by 
the  imperial  States  of  the  American  Union — a  domain  of 
which  they  were  dispossessed  partly  by  aggressive  wars 
and  partly  by  the  vices  of  civilization  grafted  upon  the  de- 
pravity of  savage  life  ;  and  because  whole  tribes  of  the 
people  so  despoiled  have  become  extinct,  while  the  rem- 
nants, still  surviving,  are  steadily  diminishing  notwith- 
standing the  philanthropic  efforts  made  to  arrest  that  de- 
cline. 

The  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  language  of  one 
of  the  Indian  tribes  by  Eliot  demands  our  attention,  be- 
cau.se  it  was  accomplished  under  embarrassments  greater 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       207 

than  existed  in  the  case  of  any  other  translator  who  ever 
rendered  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  vernacular  of  any 
people.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of  that  tribe  now  on 
earth.  There  is  not  a  human  being  who  can  now  read 
Eliot's  Bible;  and  yet  its  translation  was  not  love's  labor 
lost.  That  Bible  has  no  readers,  but  the  very  language 
in  which  its  blessed  truths  were  expressed  is  remem- 
bered among  the  redeemed  and  glorified  who  here  on 
earth  learned  to  chant  its  Psalms  and  adore  the  Saviour 
it  revealed.  The  book  is  silent  evermore,  but  its  story 
of  redemption  is  still  celebrated  in  immortal  songs. 

The  late  Dr.  William  Graham,  professor  in  the  Presby- 
terian College  of  London,  during  a  visit  to  this  country, 
made  a  tour  through  the  New  England  States  and  took 
Ngrthampton  in  his  way  that  he  might  see  the  place  so 
tenderly  associated  with  the  last  hours  of  David  Brainerd. 
Dr.  Graham  published  a  sketch  of  that  wonderful  man, 
one  of  the  best  of  the  many  that  have  appeared.  Few 
have  seen  the  periodical  in  which  it  was  published.  Dr. 
Graham  says:  "Three  things  have  made  the  name  of 
Brainerd  memorable — his  biography  by  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, his  eulogy  by  Robert  Hall,  and  his  influence  on 
Henry  Martyn,  to  whom  he  was  a  Protestant  patron  saint." 
The  missionary  annals  of  the  world  furnish  us  with  few 
accounts  of  such  privations  as  are  recorded  of  him — thorns 
exceedingly  sharp,  but  blossoming  into  flowers  of  saintly 
purity  and  sweetness.  Renouncing  positions  where  he 
might  have  found  congenial  companionship  and  comfort 
as  well  as  usefulness,  he  chose  the  solitary,  self-denying 
life  of  a  missionary  among  the  Indian  savages ;  a  lonely, 
consumptive  man,  living  in  a  wigwam,  sleeping  on  a  bed 
of  straw,  eating  mouldy  bread  or  sour  cakes  prepared  by 
his  own  hand.  His  experience  of  the  most  effectual 
way  to  reach  the  heart  even  of  savage  hearers  is  instruc- 


2o8  The  Whstminster  Assembly. 

tive.  He  found  that  the  terrors  of  the  law  did  not 
alarm  them.  They  were  men  accustomed  to  brave  all 
dangers  without  a  tremor,  but  floods  of  tears  flowed  from 
their  eyes  at  the  recital  of  the  love  of  him  who  came  down 
to  earth  to  seek  the  lost,  and  then  went  up  to  heaven  to 
intercede  for  them.  It  must  delight  the  brother  who 
gave  us  that  admirable  address  on  the  Catechisms  of  the 
church  to  be  reminded  that  Brainerd,  as  his  biographer 
tells  us,  lodged  the  Shorter  Catechism  in  the  minds  of 
these  wild  men  of  the  woods,  knowing  that  solid  piles 
of  doctrine  must  be  driven  into  the  swampy  soil  of  the 
Indian  mind  before  any  firm  foundation  could  be  secured 
for  the  erection  of  a  permanent  superstructure. 

Worn  out  with  toil,  he  went  to  Northampton,  the 
home  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  to  die  in  the  twenty-ninth 
year  of  his  age.  During  the  closing  days  of  that  life  of 
privation  he  was  tenderly  ministered  to  by  the  daughter 
of  the  great  theologian  to  whom  he  had  been  betrothed, 
and  still  more  tenderly  ministered  to  by  One  who,  above 
all  others,  had  loved  him  and  above  all  others  was  beloved 
in  return  by  the  dying  saint,  until  he  passed  away  in  pace 
and  in  pacem.  Two  graves,  moss-grown  and  fir-shaded, 
more  than  any  others  around  them,  touched  the  heart  of 
the  English  pilgrim  with  the  pathos  both  of  human  and 
divine  love,  and  these  were  the  graves  of  Brainerd  and 
that  of  the  girl  he  loved,  but  did  not  live  to  marry. 

Having  endeavored  to  delineate  the  relation  of  the 
Westminster  Standards  to  Foreign  Missions,  more  es- 
pecially in  their  influence  in  developing  the  great  princi- 
ples which  in  our  day  and  in  our  own  church  have  made 
the  work  of  universal  evangelization  at  once  conserva- 
ti^'e  and  aggressive,  and  successful,  too,  just  in  propor- 
tion to  their  conformity  with  apostolic  models  and  meth- 
ods, I  conclude  the  discourse  with  a  brief  portraiture  of 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       209 

two  typical  men,  in  whom  the  principles  discussed  found 
their  illustration  and  embodiment. 

The  first  missionary  since  the  Reformation  sent  forth  by 
any  church  in  its  corporate  capacity  and  ordained  to  labor 
in  the  foreign  field  was  Alexander  Duff,  whose  name  stands 
as  a  synonym  of  whatever  is  heroic,  self-sacrificing  and 
saintly  in  missionary  character  and  achievement.  His 
personal  history  has  all  the  charm  of  romance,  height- 
ened by  the  additional  charm  of  being  not  only  a  hal- 
lowed, but  a  veritable,  history. 

Born  in  a  valley  overlooked  by  the  peaks  of  Beni-vrac- 
kie,  hard  by  the  battle-field  where  the  crafty  and  cruel 
Claverhouse  fell  mortally  wounded,  his  imagination 
in  early  jouth  touched  by  the  weird,  wild  songs  of 
Dugald  Buchanan — the  Ossian  of  the  highlands — and  his 
heart  filled  with  the  deeper  emotions  enkindled  by  the 
visions  of  the  Apocah'pse  and  the  triumphant  songs  of 
the  innumerable  multitude,  he  himself  in  later  life  as- 
cribed to  these  influences  the  impressions  which  gave 
color,  tone  and  direction  to  much  that  was  characteristic 
of  him  in  after  years. 

Of  the  effective  use  he  made  of  these  early  associations 
we  have  an  illustration  in  the  memorable  address  he 
made  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  in  1850,  twenty-one  years  after  his  ordina- 
tion as  a  missionary  to  India,  when  he  told  his  audience 
of  the  emotion  with  which  he  had  listened  in  his  boy- 
hood to  Jacobite  songs,  and  his  romantic  devotion  to 
"  Prince  Charlie,"  and  then  vividly  picturing  the  enthusi- 
asm with  which  youthful  warriors  from  "bracken,  bush 
and  glen ' '  rallied  to  their  standards  and  of  how  the  gory 
beds  and  cold,  grassy  winding  sheets  of  Culloden  Muir 
bore  testimon}^  to  the  intensity  of  their  loyalty  to  an 
earthly   prince,    he   appealed   to  Highland  fathers    and 


2IO  The  Westminstkr  Assembly. 

mothers  to  show  a  deeper,  diviner  loyaky  in  joyously 
consecrating  their  sons  to  the  service  of  the  King  of  kings. 

Of  course,  I  cannot  present  even  an  outline  of  Dr. 
Duff' s  splendid  career  in  India ;  but  as  an  orator,  most 
impassioned  and  inspired  when  his  theme  was  the  great- 
ness and  the  glory  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  he  has 
had  no  superior  among  all  who  have  consecrated  their 
lives  to  that  supreme  interest  of  the  church.  The  en- 
thusiasm aroused  by  his  eloquent  appeals  to  his  country- 
men after  his  return  from  India  would  seem  to  be  exag- 
gerations were  they  not  attested  by  those  who  witnessed 
what  has  been  reported.  Probabl)^  great  audiences  have 
never  been  more  thoroughly  entranced  by  hum.an  speech 
since  the  days  so  graphically  described  by  Ma  caul  ay, 
when  in  "the  great  hall  of  William  Rufus  which  had 
resounded  with  acclamations  at  the  inaugurations  of 
thirty  kings  ' '  Burke  made  the  opening  address  ' '  with 
an  exuberance  of  thought  and  a  splendor  of  diction,'* 
mingled  with  a  pathos  which  stirred  the  deepest  emo- 
tions of  men  of  judicial  gravity  and  sternest,  .stoical  .self- 
control,  and  the  more  impressible  portion  of  his  hearers 
to  an  excitation  of  feeling  which  there  was  no  attempt  to 
restrain. 

So  when  Duff  ended  one  of  his  impassioned  appeals 
and  the  audience  broke  out  into  a  tempest  of  enthusiastic 
applause,  it  was  sometimes  necessary  to  chasten  and 
temper  the  high-wrought  emotion  by  the  voice  of  prayer 
by  some  venerable  father  called  upon  to  lead  the  devo- 
tions of  the  Assembly. 

The  testimony  of  one  competent  to  form  such  a  judg- 
ment was  that  though  it  had  been  his  privilege  to  hear 
Fox  and  Pitt  speak  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  the 
very  zenith  of  their  glory  as  statesmen  and  orators,  he 
had  never  heard  from  either  a  speech  surpassing  one 
Dr.  Duff  had  just  delivered  for  loftiness  of  tone,  for  ar- 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       211 

gumentative  force,  transcendent  eloquence  and  overpow- 
ering impressiveness. 

It  was  the  happy  privilege  of  Dr.  Dufif  to  come  nearer 
to  the  solution  of  the  controverted  question  than  any  one 
else  who  ever  attempted  it,  with  regard  to  the  use  of 
secular  literature  and  science  in  the  training  of  Hindoo 
young  men  in  his  schools  in  Calcutta.  He  learned  how 
successfully  to  attack  Hindoo  superstitions  by  an  Eng- 
lish education  in  true  science,  ever}^  fact  of  such  science 
being  antagonistic  to  and  subversive  of  some  article  in 
the  Hindoo  religion.  But  this  was  only  preparing  the 
way  of  the  Lord.  He  well  knew  that  every  item  of 
belief  in  a  false  religion  might  be  annihilated,  and  then 
leave  the  student  nothing  more  than  a  cultivated  skeptic. 
His  great  reliance,  therefore,  after  removing  the  rubbish 
and  stumbling-blocks  out  of  the  way,  was  the  preaching 
of  Christ  crucified,  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth.  Such 
was  the  work  of  this  master-builder — a  work  solid  in  its 
foundation,  safe  in  its  superstructure,  and  certain  to 
become  demonstrably  scriptural  by  the  test  of  time.  It 
was  also  the  high  distinction  of  Dr.  Dufif  to  be  successful 
in  a  double  vocation, 'that  of  being  one  of  the  wisest  and 
most  eflScient  of  all  workers  in  the  foreign  field,  and  also 
the  instrument  of  arousing  an  intelligent  and  abiding  en- 
thusiasm among  his  countiy^men  at  home.  No  returned 
missionary  ever  wrought  such  a  revolution  in  public 
opinion,  and  no  one  ever  sent  back  so  many  volunteers 
into  the  foreign  field. 

This  gives  him  a  unique  place  in  missionary  biography. 
Around  his  bier  Christians  of  all  confessions  met.  "  For 
the  first  time  in  Scottish  ecclesiastical  history,  the  mem- 
bers of  three  kirks  and  their  moderators,  in  person  or 
through  their  representatives,  trod  the  one  funeral  march," 
and  throughout  the  world  where  the  tidings  of  his  de- 


212  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

parture  came,  tears  of  sorrow  at  such  a  loss  were  min- 
gled with  thanksgivings  that  God  had  given  to  men  such 
a  missionary  of  the  cross. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hampden  C.  Dubose  has  rendered  a 
service  for  which  the  gratitude  of  the  Christian  public 
is  due  for  publishing  a  memoir  of  Dr.  John  Leighton 
Wilson,  "  for  eighteen  years  a  missionary  on  the  Western 
coast  of  Africa,  and  for  thirty-three  years  secretary  of 
foreign  missions  in  his  own  country."  Dr.  Dubose,  who 
has  spent  a  large  portion  of  his  own  life  in  the  foreign 
field,  was  well  qualified  by  experience  and  by  the  strong 
and  tender  affection  he  cherished  for  the  subject  of  his 
memoir  to  compose  a  biography  as  deeply  interesting  as 
it  is  instructive  and  inspiriting.  The  author  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  much  valuable  information  furnished  him  by 
some  of  the  most  intimate  friends  and  ardent  admirers  of 
Dr.  Wilson.  Among  these  he  makes  special  mention  of 
two  contributions  recei\-ed  from  Drs.  Adger  and  Dabney, 
and  he  awakens  our  sympathy  for  both  in  a  single  sent- 
ence full  of  pathos,  in  which  he  tell  us  that  each  of  these 
communications  was  dictated  to  an  amenuensis,  inas- 
much as  both  of  the  venerable  contributors  were  afflicted 
v^^ith  the  loss  of  sight. 

One  of  these  now  sits  on  this  platform  in  view  of  this 
great  audience,  unseen  by  him ;  my  class-mate  and  lifelong 
friend.  I  am  comforted  by  the  assurance  that  the  dark- 
ness which  envelops  him  is  but  the  shadow  of  God's 
wing,  beneath  which  he  is  all  the  nearer  to  his  Father's 
side  and  heart;  and  he  may  say  in  words  ascribed  to 
another : 

"Dear  Lord,  upon  my  bended  knee, 

I  recognize  thy  purpose  clearly  shown ; 
My  vision  thou  hast  dimmed 
That  I  might  see 

Thyself,  thyself  alone." 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       213 

The  biographer  of  Dr.  Wilson  tells  us  that  in  the 
year  1734  there  came  to  America  a  colony  of  Presbj^te- 
rians  who  settled  in  WilHamsburg  county,  South  Carolina, 
a  godly  community,  with  piety  in  the  home,  piety  in  the 
school,  and  spiritual  worship  in  the  church — a  community  ' 
of  Christian  households,  in  which  daughters  were  trained 
to  industry  and  virtue,  and  sons  taught  to  speak  the 
truth,  to  fear  the  face  of  no  man,  and  to  do  that  which 
was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 

The  father  of  Leighton  Wilson  was  a  planter,  whose 
home  was  the  abode  of  plenty,  contentment,  and  social 
enjoyment;  ordinarily  filled  with  guests  attracted  by  the 
generous  hospitality  for  which  men  of  his  class  were 
famed.  There  the  boy  was  early  developed  in  physical 
health  and  vigor  by  the  free,  out-door  life  he  lived — 
fishing,  hunting,  riding,  and  engaging  in  all  the  athletic 
sports  in  which  the  sons  of  planters  in  easy  circum- 
stances in  that  day  delighted,  whether  in  forest,  field,  or 
stream.  It  was  by  manly  pastimes  like  these,  in  a 
climate  that  invited  to  out-door  life  all  the  year  round, 
that  he  gained  the  great  stature  to  which  he  attained ;  the 
deep,  broad  chest,  and  the  physical  vigor  which  never 
failed  him  either  on  the  African  coast  or  in  the  close 
confinement  of  the  mission  rooms. 

In  the  history  of  Dr.  Duff  we  saw  how  the  environ- 
ments of  his  youth  had  much  to  do  in  giving  tone  and 
color  to  his  character  and  in  shaping  the  course  of  his  sub- 
sequent life.  In  his  boyhood  the  influence  of  picturesque 
scenery;  the  harmonies  of  nature  heard  in  winds  and 
waterfalls  and  the  songs  of  birds ;  the  weird  traditions  of 
primitive  times;  the  wild  minstrelsy  of  native  bards;  the 
haunted  glen ;  the  ivy-mantled  ruin — all  these  touched 
his  fanc}'  and  charmed  the  inward  eye  with  the  visions  of 
romance. 


214  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

The  surroundings  of  Wilson  in  his  boyhood  were  very 
different,  but  none  the  less  potent.  The  songs  most 
familiar  to  his  ear  were  plantation  songs  in  the  happy 
harvest  time,  and  still  oftener  the  melodious  and  mighty 
chorus  of  voices  of  the  negro  worshippers  in  the  crowded 
church  or  in  the  ample  grove,  lit  up  at  night  by  flaming 
pine  torches.  One  of  the  uncles  of  Leighton  Wilson  was 
a  man  whose  counsels  in  church  courts  and  whose  in- 
structive sermons,  full  of  heavenly  unction,  gave  him  a 
wide  influence.  He  was  especially  happy  in  his  dis- 
courses to  the  colored  people,  in  whose  spiritual  welfare 
he  took  the  livehest  interest.  In  return,  their  affection 
for  him  was  most  fervent.  They  flocked  to  him  from 
neighboring  plantations  on  communion  Sabbaths,  and 
when  the  services  were  over  they  crowded  around  him 
to  grasp  his  hand,  and  lingered  long  after  the  benedic- 
tion. Now  we  see  the  formative  and  directive  influence 
of  early  associations.  It  was  the  profound  interest  in 
the  colored  people  of  this  uncle,  under  whose  roof  young 
Wilson  once  spent  a  winter,  that  his  own  missionary  en- 
thusiasm was  kindled  for  the  natives  of  the  dark  conti- 
nent. Familiar  as  he  was  with  the  habits  and  peculiari- 
ties of  the  negro  race,  among  whom  he  was  born  and 
with  whom  he  found  his  first  playmates,  he  was  thus, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  trained  for  the  splendid  ser^'ice 
to  which  he  devoted  the  prime  of  his  life  on  the  western 
coast  of  Africa.  There  is  no  time  now  to  speak  of  his 
labors  there  as  a  teacher,  translator,  naturalist,  and  lin- 
guist ;  of  his  perils  by  fever,  flood  and  cannibals ;  of  his 
loneliness  and  depression  of  spirits  from  the  death  of 
colleagues ;  but  in  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  say 
something  with  regard  to  one  of  his  memorable  achieve- 
ments. The  English,  French,  Portuguese,  Spaniards 
and  Americans  were  all  at  one  time  actively  engaged  in 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       215 

the  slave  trade.  Almost  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  number  exported  from  the  coast  during  the 
year  1798  was  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand. 
When  public  opinion  was  aroused  in  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  and  a  effort  made  to  suppress  the 
nefarious  traffic,  a  British  squadron  was  placed  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  but  those  interested  in  the  continuance  of 
the  trade  made  strenuous  opposition  to  the  retention  of 
the  fleet  on  the  coast,  the  argument  being  that  it  was  in- 
efficient and  had  failed  to  guard  the  coast  pr  capture  the 
slave-trading  vessels.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Dr. 
Wilson's  intervention  became  effectual.  His  biographer 
states  that  Dr.  Wilson  prepared  a  paper  demonstrating 
the  efficiency  of  the  blockade,  and  sent  it  to  a  wealthy 
merchant  in  Bristol,  who  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  Lord 
Palmerston.  The  premier  directed  that  an  edition  of 
ten  thousand  copies  should  be  printed  and  widely  distri- 
buted in  prominent  circles.  "The  monogram  proved 
that  the  squadron  had  accomplished  a  great  deal,  and 
urged  that  only  the  fastest  ships  should  be  stationed  on 
the  coast.  Lord  Palmerston  informed  Dr.  Wilson  that 
after  the  publication  of  his  article  all  opposition  in  Eng- 
land to  the  retention  of  the  African  squadron  ceased. 
And  thus  the  long  night  of  woe  to  the  unhappy  sons  of 
Darkest  Africa  ended,  and  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day 
was  ushered  in.  For  this  consummation  Dr.  Wilson 
toiled,  and  prayed,  and  then  rejoiced." 

Dr.  Wilson  had  little  of  the  sentiment,  the  romance, 
the  brilliancy  or  the  magnetic  power  so  conspicuous  in 
Dr.  Duff,  but  his  characteristics  were  these:  simplicitj^ 
humility,  transparency,  candor,  courage,  decision,  conse- 
cration and  heavenly-mindedness.  Those  who  knew 
him  most  intimately  will  testify  that  every  one  of  these 
traits  were  well-defined  in  him  and  so  blended  as  to  form 


2i6  The  Wp:stminster  Assembly. 

a  combination  of  beautiful  and  attractive  symmetry.  It 
may  be  said  of  him  as  of  the  prophet  EHsha,  "a  man  of 
God,"  "a  holy  man  of  God." 

Dr.  Dubose  closes  his  charming  memoir  by  saying : 
"During  the  last  months  of  his  life  his  experience  was 
not  that  of  the  valley  and  shadow  of  which  the  Psalmist 
spake,  but  it  was  rather  that  of  the  prophet  who  had  led 
his  people  out  of  Egyptian  bondage,  and  who,  standing 
on  Pisgah's  summit,  looked  across  the  plains  of  Canaan 
to  Mount  Zion  and  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  first 
born." 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  incidents  in  the  history  of 
our  late  council  in  the  city  of  Glasgow  was  an  address 
from  the  eastern  section  of  the  Executive  Commission  oi 
the  CEcumenical  Methodist  Conference,  so  cordial  in  its 
tone,  so  appreciative  of  our  principles  and  their  influence 
in  the  work  of  the  world's  evangelization,  that  I  cannot 
refrain  from  referring  to  a  portion  of  it : 

"It  is  with  especial  gratification  that  we  recall  in  the 
presence  of  so  many  of  its  distinguished  representatives 
our  manifold  debts  to  the  historic  Presbyterian  Church, 
it  being  preeminently  Protestant.  Your  great  church 
has  been  of  necessity  a  witnessing  church,  and  has 
gained  one  of  its  chief  distinctions  in  going  forth  '  unto 
Jesus  without  the  camp,  bearing  his  reproach.'  It  has 
been  given  to  you  '  not  only  to  believe  in  Christ,  but  also 
to  suffer  for  his  sake.'  Your  church  has  furnished  the 
memorable  and  inspiriting  spectacle,  not  simply  of  a 
solitary  heroic  soul  here  and  there,  but  of  generations  of 
faithful  souls  ready,  for  the  .sake  of  Christ  and  his  truth, 
to  go  cheerfully  to  prison  and  to  death.  This  rare  honor 
you  rightly  esteem  as  the  most  precious  part  of  your 
priceless  heritage. 

"And  we  further  glory  in  the  thought  that  the  great 


The  Standards  and  Foreign  Missions.       217 

Presbyterian  Church  can  never  cease  to  be  evangelical, 
since  it  has  become  so  intensely  evangelistic.  Taking 
the  world  over,  Presbyterianisni  in  the  future  must  be 
looked  to  as  one  of  the  very  greatest  and  most  beneficent 
forces  for  the  Christian  conversion  and  evangelization  of 
the  generations  of  mankind  on  every  continent.  We  do 
unfeignedly  rejoice  as  we  behold  your  goodly  array  of 
churches  giving  the  noblest  of  their  sons,  and  consecrat- 
ing their  vast  resources  of  learning  and  wealth  to  the 
greatest,  the  mightiest  of  all  enterprises,  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  Christ,  assured  that  he  shall  yet  'reign 
from  the  river  to  the  ends  ot  the  earth.' " 

"We  close,"  says  the  address,  "as  we  began,  by  pray- 
ing that  the  Master's  presence  may  be  in  all  your  assem- 
blies ;  that  he  may  prosper  all  your  undertakings ;  that  he 
may  make  'all  grace  to  abound  toward  you,'  until  your 
cherished  ideal  of  '  a  free  church  in  a  free  state '  shall  in 
every  nation  under  heaven  be  an  accomplished  fact,  and 
every  citizen  be  taught  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is  to 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  forever." 


REV.  SAMUEL  M.  t^JMllH,  D.  D. 


IX. 

THE  WESTMINSTER  SYMBOLS  CONSIDERED  IN 
RELATION  TO  CURRENT  POPULAR  THEOL- 
OGY AND  THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


BY 

Rev.  SAMUEL  M.  SMITH,  D.  D., 

PASTOR  OF  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH  AT  COLUMBIA, 
SOUTH    CAROLINA. 


219 


ANALYSIS. 

The  theme  a  comparison. — The  Westminster  s^'mbols  and  cur- 
rent theology. — This  theology  a  type  of  thought. — Its  terms  vague. 
— Its  attitude  negative.  —Abuses  conservative  theology. —Familiar 
terms  in  new  senses. — Peculiar  to  no  church. — Has  no  one  leader. 
— Each  a  leader. — Good  men  among  them. — Views  held  debated. 
— This  theology  professes  to  be  biblical. — Yet  makes  little  use  of 
Scripture. — Claims  to  be  spiritual  and  ethical. — Claim  questioned. 
— Discontent  its  bond. — Dislikes  systematic  theology. — Calvinism 
still  more. — The  divine  immanence  its  source. — Schleiermacher 
its  father. — Spinoza  its  ancestor. — German  philosophy  its  friends. 
— Its  three  features. — Mysticism. — Pantheism. — Rationalism. — 
Philosophical  survey. — Summary. — Its  doctrine  of  immanence 
vague. — Tends  to  pantheism. — Miracle  minimized. — Distinction 
between  natural  and  supernatural  obscured. — Drummond  alluded 
to. — Progressive  revelation. — Revelation  a  process. — Inspiration 
modified. — Beecher  criticised. — Leads  to  radical  criticism. — Lit- 
erary freedom.— Christ's  mission. — Progressive  revelation. — The 
incarnation. — The  person  of  Christ. — The  solidarity  of  the  race. — 
Election  rejected.- — Atonement  explained  away. — Doctrine  of  sin. 
— View  of  redemption. — The  race  idea. — Anthropology  and  sote 
riology  inverted. — Christian  consciousness  exalted. — Divine  im- 
manence.— Comparative  religion. — Natural  law. — Process  every- 
where.— Eschatology  reconstructed. — Current  literature  scanned. 
— Broader  views  given. — Grace  and  law. — Restorationism  fa- 
vored.— The  pale  ghost  of  a  spiritualized  pantheism. — Special 
discussion. — The  divine  fatherhood. — Confusion — Natural  and 
spiritual  fatherhood. — Conservative  theology  correct. — Sover- 
eignty first. — Fatherhood  next.— Scripture  favors. — Passages 
quoted. — Expounded. — True  spiritual  sonship  shown. — The  in- 
carnation emphasized. — The  atonement  ignored. — The  life  of 
Christ  more  than  his  death. — Christ  revealer  only. — Not  redeemer. 
—  Prophet,  not  priest. — Scripture  puts  stress  on  his  death.  —  So 
early  preaching. — The  cross. — Christocentric  theology.— Back  to 
Christ.— Plausible,  but  puerile.— Calvinism  never  left  Christ.— The 
Scripture  teaching. — Sin  a  fact.— Sincen trie  theology.— Calvinism 
rightly  theocentric. — Doctrine  of  Christian  consciousness. — Cur- 
rent theology  reproduces  Schleiermacher. — Quotations. — Bible 
shorn  of  its  authority. — Christian  consciousness  a  figment. — A 
folly. — Catechism  for  the  new  theology. — The  Calvinism  of  the 
Standards  must  stand  against  it. — This  will  meet  the  needs  of  the 
future. 

220 


IX. 

THE  WESTMINSTER  SYMBOLS  CONSIDERED  IN 
RELATION  TO  CURRENT  POPULAR  THEOL- 
OGY AND  THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


THE  topic  assigned  me  deals  with  a  comparison,  the 
terms  of  which  are  the  Westminster  symbols  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  current  popular  theology  on  the 
other.  The  first  term  of  this  comparison  has  been  pre- 
sented already  with  great  clearness  and  with  signal 
ability  by  the  distinguished  speakers  who  have  pre- 
ceded me,  so  that  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  at  this 
stage  of  our  programme  the  audience  has  a  clear  and 
comprehensive  conception  of  the  contents  and  the  char- 
acter of  these  great  symbols ;  when  the  distinctive  fea- 
tures and  salient  points  of  the  current  popular  theology 
of  the  day  shall  have  been  set  forth,  the  comparison  will 
have  been  instituted,  the  relation  between  the  two  will 
be  self-evident,  and  the  part  the  Westminster  Standards 
must  play  in  the  needs  of  the  future  will  appear  implicit 
in  the  comparison,  needing,  if  anything,  emphasis  only. 

Let  it  be  said  in  the  outset  that  there  are  certain  char- 
acteristics common  to  this  theology  that  need  to  be 
noted;  some  of  them  to  be  constantly  remembered,  in- 
asmuch as  they  greatly  embarrass  any  attempt  to  give 
an  exact  and  concise  statement  of  the  views  therein 
advanced. 

Bear  in  mind,  then,  that  it  represents  a  tendency 
rather  than  any  clearly-defined  system  of  doctrine  or  dis- 


222  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

tinctly- formulated  creed;  it  is  more  like  a  school  of 
thought  in  what  seems  to  be  a  transition  period.  All 
its  deliverances  are  more  or  less  vague,  its  terms  indefi- 
nite and  uncertain.  It  is  negative  rather  than  positive, 
consisting  chiefly  in  the  criticism  of  existing  systems, 
far  more  successful  in  the  discovery  of  weakness  than  in 
the  development  of  strength,  more  alert  and  acute  in  the 
emphasis  of  alleged  existing  difficulties  and  objections 
than  capable  and  effective  in  the  removal  of  them,  tele- 
scopic and  microscopic  alike  in  the  vision  of  defects,  but 
myopic  to  a  degree  in  the  vision  of  any  remedies  that 
really  remedy. 

Its  representatives  set  forth  with  great  vigor  and  great 
plainness  the  faults  of  the  conservative  theology,  and 
they  assume  with  equal  positiveness  an  immense  supe- 
riority in  behalf  of  the  new,  but  just  wherein  exactly 
this  assumed  superiority  consists  they  fail  with  anj^  de- 
finiteness  to  show. 

The  natural  effect  of  this  vagueness  is,  moreover, 
heightened  by  a  free  and  frequent  use  of  terms  long 
familiar  and  inseparably  associated  with  certain  fixed, 
definite  ideas  ;  but  they  invest  these  terms  with  a  new 
and  a  different  meaning,  using  them  in  a  way — 

"  That  palters  with  us  in  a  double  sense, 
That  keeps  the  word  of  promise  to  our  ear 
And  breaks  it  to  our  hope." 

The  casual  reader  is  ver>'  likely  to  be  misled  by  such 
use  of  the  familiar  terms ;  and  failing  to  discriminate  is 
often  surprised  and  sometimes  somewhat  indignant  at 
what  he  conceives  to  be  unjust  and  uncharitable  criti- 
cism. It  has  no  lines  of  theological  or  ecclesiastical  de- 
marcation; it  runs  through  all  churches  and  has  its 
representatives  in  all  schools  of  theology.  It  is  a  sort 
of  theological  cave  of  Adullam   into  which  every  man 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        223 

that  hath  any  quarrel  with  his  creed  doth  resort  with 
great  gladness  and  not  seldom  with  some  noise. 

It  owns,  however,  no  David;  recognizes  no  master; 
has  no  accredited  representatives  authorized  to  speak  for 
it ;  puts  forth  no  confession  of  its  faith  to  which  appeal 
may  be  made.  Exactly  what  the  Westminster  symbols 
teach  is  within  the  compass  of  any  intelligence  willing 
to  study  these  Standards,  but  when  one  turns  to  the 
popular  theology  of  the  day,  what  shall  be  his  guide? 
Its  advocates  well  illustrate  what  one  "of  their  number 
aptly  styles  the  Freedom  of  Faith.  The  only  way  to 
arrive  at  the  views  held  by  this  school  is  to  collect  and 
collate  the  deliverances  of  its  most  prominent  and  active 
exponents,  remembering  always  that  no  one  is  entitled 
to  speak  for  any  other ;  any  one  of  them  may,  with  all 
honesty  of  heart,  repudiate  the  deliverances  of  all  others 
and  earnestly  contend  that  such  views  do  not  represent 
the  new  theology,  while  with  equal  right  any  and  all 
others  may  refuse  recognition  to  his  views.  Each  repre- 
sentative writes  as  if  he  carried  the  whole  Progressive 
Theology  immediately  under  the  crown  of  his  own  hat. 
This  fact  I  wish  to  emphasize  in  order  to  guard  against 
individual  injustice,  and  because,  moreover,  it  affords 
opportunity  distinctly  to  recognize  that  among  the  ad- 
herents of  this  current  popular  theology  are  found  not 
only  men  of  diverse  views,  but  also  of  very  different  dis- 
positions and  characters,  among  them  some  of  sweet 
spirit  and  devout  consecration  and  effective  service  for 
God  and  man.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  we  deal  not 
with  the  characters  of  such,  but  only  with  doctrinal 
views.  Could  such  men  control  the  discussion  I  should 
have  less  to  say  in  criticism ;  could  such  characters 
counteract  the  effect  of  such  views  we  should  have  less 
to  fear;  but  alas!  they  cannot;   however  sweet- spirited 


224  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

men  may  be,  logic  is  relentless ;  a  conclusion  is  not 
greatly  affected  by  the  character  of  him  who  furnishes 
its  premises,  and  these  shining  exceptions  are  sometimes 
contributing  to  results  from  which  they  would  shrink  in 
horror,  while  their  amiable  and  excellent  character  serves 
only  to  aggravate  the  evil.  It  must  be  said  also,  that 
men  of  this  stamp  are  not  sufl&ciently  numerous  or  active 
to  exercise  any  considerable  influence  on  the  discus- 
sion; for  it  assuredly  is,  in  the  main,  anything  but 
sweet- spirited  and  amiable,  and  is  marked  by  a  conspicu- 
ous absence  of  certain  characteristics  of  the  wisdom  that 
is  from  above;  even  if  it  be  granted  that  conservative 
theology  has  been  overtaken  in  its  faults,  it  can  scarcely 
be  claimed  that  this  effort  to  restore  it  has  been  especially 
marked  by  a  spirit  of  meekness. 

One  of  the  most  constant  characteristics  of  the  discus- 
sion is  the  absence  of  Scripture  citation.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable  and  peculiar  when  we  remember  that  the  new 
theology  claims  for  itself  a  preeminently  biblical  character 
as  one  of  its  distinctive  differentiae,  distinguishing  it  from 
that  of  such  symbols  as  the  Westminster,  which  is  as- 
serted to  be  scholastic  rather  than  biblical,  while  the  new 
claims  to  be  exactly  the  reverse ;  but  one  misses  greatly 
that  constant  resort  to  the  ipsisshna  verba  of  sacred  Scrip- 
ture which  conservative  theology  has  made  so  familiar; 
we  have,  instead,  some  argument,  many  assertions,  a  mul- 
titude of  assumptions,  but  rarely  ever  a  Scripture  text ;  our 
progressive  brethren  profess  great  reverence  for  the  spirit 
of  Scripture,  but  they  make  scant  appeal  to  its  letter; 
they  seem  to  write  under  the  conviction  that  ' '  the  letter 
killeth,"  and  not  without  cause;  for  if  there  is  a  single 
readjustment  of  theirs  that  can  survive  an  appeal  to  the 
letter  of  God's  word,  I  have  failed  utterly  to  find  it. 

Besides  claiming  to  be  more  biblical,  it  claims  also 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         225 

to  be  more  ethical,  more  evangelical,  more  spiritual ;  as- 
serts "an  increasing  frankness,"  "a  deepening  sincer- 
ity," "a  deepening  spirituality";  but  this  deepening 
sincerity  does  not  seem  to  abridge  the  liberty  its  repre- 
sentatives exercise  in  the  interpretation  of  their  ostensi- 
ble creeds,  nor  does  their  superior  spirituality  prevent 
their  drawing  the  stipend  of  a  church  whose  windows 
they  break  from  the  inside  ;  in  view  of  which  facts  they 
lay  themselves  liable  to  the  suspicion  of  having  mis- 
placed their  somewhat  vaunted  "elasticity,"  inasmuch 
as  it  seems  to  lie  not  so  much  in  the  creed  as  in  the  con- 
science. 

Having  noticed  that  this  current  theology  has  no  lines 
of  demarcation,  we  remark  finally  in  this  connection  that 
it  has  apparentl)'-  no  bond  of  union  save  that  of  discon- 
tent; the  spirit  of  the  Melancholy  Dane,  without  his 
melancholy,  however : 

"  The  times  are  out  of  joint ;   Oh  !  cursed  spite 
That  ever  I  was  born  to  set  them  right." 

In  this  spirit  they  are  in  heartiest  accord,  except  that 
they  do  not  seem  to  consider  it  a  cursed  spite  that  de- 
volves the  duty  ;  it  is  on  the  contrary  a  self-elected  task 
and  one  pursued  thoroughly  con  amore.  Amid  all  differ- 
ences there  is  one  thing  in  which  they  are  all  and  alto- 
gether, absolutely,  cordially  unanimous,  viz. :  that  con- 
servative theology  is  in  desperate  need  of  a  renascence, 
and  that  it  is  their  mission  to  meet  this  need ;  they  agree 
very  heartily  in  an  inveterate  and  virulent  dislike  of  all 
systematic  theology  in  general  and  of  Calvinism  in  par- 
ticular. 

Searching  for  some  advantageous  starting-point  for  a 
brief  but  comprehensive  sur\^ey  of  the  whole  field,  I  con- 
ceive the  doctrine  of  the  divine  immanence  to  furnish 
our  best  approach  ;   this  rather  than  any  other  impresses 


226  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

me  as  the  regulative  principle  of  the  whole,  so  far  as  it 
has  any  regulative  principle  ;  here,  if  anywhere,  we  shall 
find  a  unifying  element.  It  is  a  doctrine  derived,  doubt- 
less, from  Schleiermacher,  who,  more  than  any  other,  may 
be  considered  the  father  of  this  new  school,'  This  very 
able  and  very  distinguished  man  is  a  theological  paradox, 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  eclectics  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  blending  in  his  fervent  soul  and  brilliant  brain 
more  contradictories  of  feeling  and  of  thought  than  any 
other  one  man,  possibly,  of  this  prolific  century.  His 
earliest,  deepest,  most  abiding  impressions  were  derived 
from  the  Moravians ;  his  association  with  them  gave  a 
devoutness  to  his  feeling  and  his  thought  which  was 
never  afterwards  lost.  Then  followed  the  fascinating 
influence  of  Spinoza's  brilliant  genius  which  graved  an 
indelible  impress  into  the  very  heart  of  his  philosophy. 
^Spinoza  dominates  Schleiermacher's  thinking. 

We  then  have  superimposed  upon  these  two  funda- 
mental, coordinate  impresses  the  then  young,  though 
regnant,  philosophy  of  that  day  :  Plato,  Descartes,  Kant, 
Lessing,  Fichte,  Hegel  and  Schelling.  These  all  enter 
influentially  into  Schleiermacher's  philosophic  makeup,, 
and  all  leave  distinct  traces  of  their  influence  on  him. 
So  that  we  have  in  this  wonderful  n^an  the  well-nigh 
incredible  blending  of  three  utterly  diverse  elements, 
each  of  the  three  decidedly  marked  and  wonderfully  dis- 

'  Of  course,  I  would  not  be  misunderstood  as  ignoring  the  in- 
fluence of  other  leaders  more  modern  and  far  more  prominent 
in  the  public  eye.  I  desire  to  go  to  the  fountain  whence  all 
these  later,  lesser  streams  flow.  If  one  wishes  to  understand 
the  true  character  of  this  so-called  ne%u  theology,  let  him  study 
this  light  which  dawned  in  1768. 

"      .     .     .     .     micat  inter  onines 
.     7>ehit  inter  ignes 
Luna  minor es." 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         227 

tinct,  viz.  :  Mysticisi7i^  Pa?itkeisni,  and  Rationalism.  If 
called  upon  to  combine  them  into  one  compound,  we 
should  be  compelled  to  call  him  a  mystic,  pantheistic 
rationalist !  For  though  he  began  by  putting  imperious 
conclusion  to  the  long  conflict  between  reason  and  faith 
by  the  simple  process  of  ordering  the  former  off  the  field, 
cutting  the  Gordian  knot  of  rationalistic  difficulties  by 
peremptorily  ruling  reason  as  an  authority  out  of  the 
realm  of  religion  utterly,  yet  bj  a  bouleverseineyit  most 
remarkable  he  ended  by  presenting  the-  world,  in  the. 
name  of  theology,  a  philosophy  simon  pure  and  one  vir- 
tually and  radically  rationalistic  at  that ! 

We  have  not  space  here  for  any  attempt  at  a  survey  or 
analysis  of  this  system  of  religious  philosophy ;  suffice 
it  to  say  with  utmost  brevity,  that  tried  by  the  Standards 
prevailing  in  this  presence,  he  is,  in  our  judgment  at 
least,  not  sound  on  a  single  doctrine.  The  relevance  of 
this  statement  appears  when  we  state  our  conviction  that 
every  distinctive  feature  of  the  current  popular  theology 
reveals  Schleiermacher's  influence ;  reveals  it  very  dis- 
tinctly, sometimes  very  directly.  He  occupies  practi- 
cally, though  not  formally,  substantially  the  same  posi- 
tion in  the  new  theology  that  Calvin  does  in  the  re- 
formed. One  of  the  most  eminent  and  learned  advocates 
of  the  former  says  unequivocally  :  ' '  Schleiermacher  still 
utters  the  truth  to  which  all  that  is  highest  in  modern 
Christianity  responds." 

Schleiermacher's  doctrine  of  the  divine  immanence  is 
simply  Spinoza's  pantheism  spiritualized,  and  in  the 
new  theology  the  same  doctrine  appears  clearly  reflected, 
the  color  remains  distinct,  simply  paled  into  a  lighter 
shade.  The  descent  of  the  doctrine  is  very  direct; 
Schleiermacher  is  its  father  and  Spinoza  its  grandfather; 
one  who  knows  its  paternal  ancestry  would,  in  any  theo- 


228  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

logical  court,  unhesitatingly  swear  to  the  legitimacy  of 
the  offspring ;  it  carries  its  credentials  in  its  very  coun- 
tenance. 

Just  what  this  doctrine  means  in  the  mouths  of  its 
advocates,  we  find  it  impossible  to  state  with  any  confi- 
dence. The  terms  and  references  are  of  the  vaguest  and 
most  indefinite  kind.  They  allege  in  very  general  terms 
that  the  conservative  school  teaches  a  God  remote,  re- 
moved from  the  world,  shut  out  from  his  creation, 
whereas  the  new  reveals  a  God  near  at  hand,  the  former 
a  God  isolated,  the  latter  a  God  in  close  connection ;  they 
emphasize  as  the  difference  and  the  defect  of  the  ortho- 
dox theology  that  it  teaches  a  transcendent  God,  the 
progressive,  an  immanent  God;  when  we  endeavor, 
however,  to  discover  more  definitely  the  exact  difference 
between  the  two,  according  to  the  claims  of  the  progres- 
sives, we  find  ourselves  utterly  at  fault  for  lack  of  any- 
thing even  distantly  approaching  clear  definition.  Exact 
definition  is  something  the  new  theology  seems  to  abhor 
as  much  as  the  devil  is  popularly  supposed  to  abhor  holy 
water,  and  which  it  avoids  as  uniformly  as  it  does  Scrip- 
ture citation.  In  all  the  terms  that  make  any  show  of 
distinguishing  between  what  its  writers  mean  by  this 
immanence  and  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  tran- 
scendence of  the  old  theology,  their  immanence  takes  0:1 
the  complexion  of  pantheism  and  reveals  the  traces  of 
Spinoza's  influence  on  the  great  father  of  their  school. 
All  of  their  boasted  advance  on  the  conservative  doctrine 
is  in  the  direction  of  pantheism.  I  may  be  permitted  to 
interject  here  that  in  my  judgment  this  is  inevitable  ;  for 
I  believe  that  the  conservative  doctrine  so  far  from 
teaching  a  God  remote,  teaches,  on  the  contrary,  a  con- 
nection so  close  and  intimate  that  none  can  be  closer; 
the  only  alternative  is  pantheism  or  the  practical  merg- 


Thk  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         229 

Ing  of  the  identity  of  God  in  that  of  the  universe. 
While  it  may  not  be  strictly  just  to  call  their  doctrine  01 
the  divine  immanence  pantheism,  we  feel  perfectly  safe 
in  saying  that  it  is  pantheistic.  Let  us  proceed,  how- 
ever, to  our  consideration  of  this  doctrine  as  the  regula- 
tive principle  of  the  new  theology. 

According  to  it,  God  is  in  some  mysterious  way  unde- 
fined and,  perhaps  indefinable,  so  actually,  intimately, 
closely  interposed  with  some  sort  of  a  constant,  habitual, 
ordinary  connection  with  the  world  both'  of  nature  and 
of  grace,  that  there  is  no  need  and  there  can  be  no  place 
for  any  extraordinary  interposition — or  "interruption" 
as  they  prefer  to  style  it — and  hence  the  miracle  becomes 
a  superfluity  and  an  impertinence.  Some  would  do 
away  with  the  miraculous  entirely,  as  Schleiermacher 
does  in  the  Gospels,  sweeping  away  every  miracle  in 
the  narrative,  admitting  into  his  whole  scheme  two  only : 
the  miracle  of  the  creation,  and  the  miracle  of  the  Christ. 
Few  go  so  far  as  this,  but  there  is  among  them  all  a 
marked  disposition  to  minimize  the  miraculous  ;  a  dispo- 
sition often  not  least  influential  when  unavowed,  appear- 
ing frequently  in  incidental  comment  upon  the  miracles 
themselves  or  in  innocent  and  insinuative  paraphrase  of 
the  narrative  containing  them. 

God  being  so  intimately  immanent,  and  that,  too,  by 
virtue  of  so  constant,  so  habitual,  so  ordinary  a  connec- 
tion, the  distinction  between  the  natural  and  the  super- 
natural is  greatly  obscured,  in  many  instances  virtually, 
if  not  formally,  obliterated.  Schleiermacher  himself 
recognized  no  difierence  whatever  between  natural  and 
revealed  religion,  the  natural  is  supernatural,  and  the 
supernatural  natural;  not  many  are  so  extreme  as  the 
great  leader,  but  there  is  in  the  whole  school  a  constant 
tendency  to  eliminate  the  supernatural,  and  this  in  every 


230  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

department  and  in  every  direction.  According  to  the 
explanations  and  interpretations  of  this  school  a  modern 
Nicodemus  would  have  small  occasion  ever  to  ask,  How 
can  these  things  be?  and  the  natural  man  will  be  amply- 
capable  of  receiving  and  knowing  all  these  things,  for 
they  are  very  naturally  discerned.  This  tendency  to 
eliminate  the  supernatural  is  at  once  indicated,  pro- 
moted, and  measured  by  one  of  the  popular  fads  of  the 
day,  the  craze  for  analogies  that  has  prevailed  now  for 
some  years — a  movement  that  finds  its  full  flower  in  the 
brilliant  fancies  and  corruscating  word-play  of  such 
writers  as  the  late  Henry  Drummond. 

From  the  same  seminal  source  develops  also  the  con- 
ception of  a  progressive  revelation — ^though  I  must  re- 
cord here  my  protest  against  such  palpable  perversion  of 
the  word  revelation — that  the  revelation  of  God  to  man 
is  "a  continuous  process  through  the  reason,  through 
experience,  through  the  courses  of  history,  or  through 
the  events  and  discipline  of  life, ' '  a  gradual  unfolding  of 
knowledge  under  favoring  auspices,  a  perfectly  simple 
and  a  perfectly  natural  process,  reducing  what  we  have 
been  wont  to  call  divine  inspiration  to  mere  illumination, 
the  product  of  spirituality,  differing  in  degree  not  in 
kind,  the  only  difference  between  those  who  still  con- 
tinue to  be  called  the  inspired  writers  and  the  devout  of 
later  ages  lying  in  surroundings  and  circumstances,  or 
what  this  pretentious  period  loves  to  call  ' '  environment. " 
Which  age  has  the  advantage  is  a  matter  for  each  stu- 
dent to  determine  for  himself;  some  saying  that  the  ad- 
vantage lies  preeminently  with  the  disciples  and  apostles 
of  our  Lord,  while  other  some  modestly  affirm  with 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  that  they  believe  what  Paul,  e.  g., 
would  have  believed  had  he  lived  in  this  day !  The 
logic  of  the  position  is  most  evidently  on  the  side  of  the 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         231 

latter  class  ;  revelation  being  like  everything  else  a  pro- 
cess, going  on  under  the  influence  of  an  immanent  God, 
it  presumablj^  improves  with  every  age  under  the  great 
law  of  progressive  development ;  with  any  such  view  of 
revelation  it  is  simply  absurd  and  childish  to  shrink 
from  the  implication  that  Beecher  knew  more  of  Christ 
than  Paul. 

From  this  it  is  only  a  step,  and  a  very  short  step,  that 
ushers  us  into  the  whole  field  of  the  most  radical  criti- 
cism and  that  both  explains  and  justifies.all  its  methods 
and  all  its  results.  We  need  feel  no  surprise,  we  should 
experience  no  shock  at  the  freedom  with  which  the 
sacred  record  is  treated,  is  amended,  is  corrected,  is  im- 
proved generally.  Its  sacredness  has  been  ' '  developed  " 
out  of  it;  what  claim  has  it  for  any  special  reverence? 
Of  course,  critics  who  enjoy  the  advantage  of  a  continu- 
ous revelation  cannot  be  reasonably  expected  to  hesitate 
at  amending  the  utterances  of  men  who  are  nearly 
twenty  centuries  behind  the  present  stage  of  revelation; 
and  hence  we  say  that  the  most  radical  criticism  is  only 
the  logical  and  inevitable  outcome  of  the  dominant  prin- 
ciple of  the  whole  school. 

Closely  allied  with  this  is  the  view  entertained  of 
Christ's  mission  into  the  world  ;  it  is  the  paramount  ex- 
pression of  this  immanence  or  the  culminating  stage  of 
the  progressive  revelation  of  the  immanent  God.  (The 
only  difficulty  being  in  the  fact  that  the  revelation  seems 
still  to  progress  after  its  culmination!)  "The  life  of 
Christ  Vv'as  not  the  humiliation  of  the  Son  of  God,  the 
divine  glory  concealed,  as  it  were,  behind  a  veil."  On 
the  contrary,  "He  was  the  revelation  of  God  in  his 
absolute  glory,"  and  we  are  told  that  "when  Schleier- 
macher  discovered  this  as  by  a  revelation,  the  unveiled 
glory  of  God,  the  thought  of  ages,  was  reversed."     Ac- 


232  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

cording  to  this  view  of  his  mission,  Christ  is  the  inevit- 
able and  the  natural  flower  of  God's  revealing  purpose ; 
the  necessary  outcome  of  the  divine  immanence,  its  com- 
plement and  its  consummation. 

Such  being  the  character  and  the  purpose  of  Christ's 
mission,  the  incarnation  leading  and  intended  to  lead  to 
a  more  perfect  and  a  more  permanent  immanence,  we 
have  resulting  some  very  peculiar  views  of  the  incarna- 
tion of  Christ,  not  as  the  ' '  taking  to  himself  a  true  body 
and  a  reasonable  soul,"  but  as  a  union  with  the  human 
race,  a  sort  of  infusion  or  injection  of  the  divine  into  the 
race,  a  species  of  genetic,  organic,  permanent  connection 
of  God  with  mankind,  with  the  race  as  a  race,  just  as 
close  in  its  connection  as  was  that  of  Adam.  Here 
again,  and  for  the  same  reason  as  heretofore,  we  cannot 
define ;  but  the  new  theology  refers  very  emphatically 
and  quite  frequently  to  some  such  mysterious,  generic 
union  whereby  the  divine  immanence  is  by  Christ's  in- 
carnation rendered  still  more  intimately  and  effectively 
immanent,  with  certain  very  decided  doctrinal  develop- 
ments. 

(i).  There  emerges  somewhere  and  somehow  a  some- 
what, which  they  call  "The  Solidarity  of  the  Race," 
which  broadens  the  scope  of  Christ's  work  to  the  utter 
annihilation  of  all  such  narrowness  as  election,  limited 
atonement,  and  the  like. 

"If  it  is  a  fallen  world,  it  is  also  a  redeemed  world;  if  it  is  a 
lost  world,  it  is  also  a  saved  world;  the  Christ  is  no  less  to  it 
than  Adam ;  the  divine  humanity  is  no  smaller  than  the  Adamic 
humanity;  the  Spirit  is  as  powerful  and  as  universal  as  sin;  the 
links  that  bind  the  race  to  evil  are  correlated  by  links  equally 
strong  binding  it  to  righteousness." 

There  is  a  certain  sense  in  which  that  language  might 
be  used  by  conservative  theology,  though  it  would  de- 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         233 

serve  to  be  considered  loose  writing  in  any  sense ;  that 
the  loose7iess,  however,  is  not  simply  in  the  style  is  made 
evident  by  the  paragraph  which  immediately  follows  it : 

"It  (/.  t'.,  the  new  theology)  goes  in  a  certain  manner  with 
the  old  theology  in  its  views  of  common  evil,  but  it  diverges 
from  it  m  its  conceptions  of  the  redemptive  and  delivering  forces 
by  ascribing  to  them  corresponding  sweep.  To  repeat :  it  does 
not  admit  that  Christ  is  less  to  the  race  than  Adam,  that  the 

gospel  is  smaller  than  evil It  allies  itself  with  the  thought 

of  the  present  age  and  the  best  thought  of  all  ages ;  that  man- 
kind is  moved  by  common  forces,  and  follows  common  tenden- 
cies, falling  and  rising  together  in  all  good  and  ill  desert,  verify- 
ing the  phrase,  "the  life  of  humanity.'" 

The  uniform  use  of  the  word  "race,"  or  its  equivalent, 
is  the  key  to  the  foregoing  paragraphs ;  the  incarnation 
brings  about  an  organic  connection  between  Christ  and 
the  race;  the  union  is  a  racial,  not  a  personal  union. 
This  is  the  far-reaching  significance  of  the  phrase,  "soli- 
darity of  the  race." 

(2),  A  second  doctrinal  result  of  this  phase  of  the 
divine  immanence  is  that  by  this  generic  union  of  the 
divine  with  the  human  there  is  exerted  such  a  moral 
and  spiritual  influence  upon  the  race  as  to  render  the 
conservative  view  of  the  corruption  and  depravity  of  our 
nature  an  anachronism  and  an  absurdity ;  it,  therefore, 
revolutionizes  the  whole  of  anthropology  and  soteriology, 
and  of  necessity  very  materially  modifies  the  doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  his  work. 

(3),  A  third  distinct  result  of  this  view  of  the  divine 
immanence,  in  its  influence  on  the  effects  of  the  incarna- 
tion, is  seen  in  the  begetting  and  development  of  the 
modern  doctrine  of  the  Christian  consciousness,  as  it 
is  called,  wnth  all  its  fruitage.  This  doctrine  is  re- 
served for  special  consideration  at  a  later  stage  of  my 
address. 


234  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

This  divine  immanence,  entering  into  the  human  race 
as  a  race,  being  as  wide  in. its  scope  and  as  universal  in 
its  energy  as  the  limits  of  mankind,  the  logical  conse- 
quence is  that  God  reveals  himself  to  and  allies  himself 
vv^ith  all  peoples,  in  all  ages,  and  in  every  quarter  of  the 
world,  the  only  difference  being  in  somewhat  differing 
degrees  of  clearness  ,  Christianity  has  no  more  inherent 
affinit}^,  no  closer  connection,  with  Judaism  than  with 
any  and  all  other  ancient  systems.  It  is  merely  the  re- 
sultant of  a  development  going  on  under  the  steady  in- 
fluence of  the  divine  immanence.  Christianity,  they  are 
fond  of  saying,  comes  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,  and 
this  with  reference  to  all  the  vast  variety  of  heathen 
mythologies,  not  a  whit  less  than  with  reference  to  Juda- 
ism. All  the  so-called  science  of  comparative  religions 
is  a  logical  outcome,  and  you  will  find  it  figuring  natur- 
ally and  prominently  in  the  new  theology,  with  not  a 
hint  that  Judaism  is  any  more  divine  in  its  origin  than 
Buddhism. 

Under  the  dominant  influence  of  this  conception  of  the 
divine  immanence,  you  discover  on  all  hands  and  in  in- 
creasing measure  the  disposition  to  bring  every  depart- 
ment of  Christian  doctrine,  and  every  phase  of  religious 
experience,  all  of  providence  and  all  of  grace,  under  the 
dominion  of  one  great  natural  law,  that  of  progressive 
development ;  revelation  is  a  process,  the  incarnation  is 
a  process,  the  atonement  is  a  process,  regeneration  is  a 
process,  justification  is  a  process,  probation  is  a  process, 
judgment  is  a  process.  The  entire  field  of  eschatology 
needs  revision  and  restatement ;  death  is  not  decisive  of 
destiny,  there  is  no  limit  in  time  or  eternity  to  probation, 
to  discipline,  to  development.  This  latter  j^ou  will  re- 
member as  one  of  the  first  departures  of  the  new  theology 
to  arrest  attention  and  enlist  discussion ;  it  broke  out  like 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        235 

a  rash  over  the  face  of  current  literature,  and  for  a  while 
was  epidemic;  it  was  simply  a  symptom,  merely  one 
feature  of  a  perfectly  consistent  and  strictly  logical  pro- 
gress from  the  principle  involved  in  this  new  idea  of  the 
divine  immanence,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  pro- 
gressives tell  us  : 

"We  are  gaining  along  the  heights  of  faith  broader  views  of 
redemption  in  which  we  may  hope  to  comprehend  and  harmo- 
nize the  new  scientific  truths  of  tlie  correlation  of  all  things,  and 
the  laws  of  the  development  of  the  universe." 

God's  grace  is  only  one  department  of  natural  law, 
one  phase  merely  of  the  universal  process;  and  the 
whole  race,  as  a  race,  under  the  influence  of  this  great 
natural  law,  sweeps  on  as  a  part  of  a  grand  cosmic  de- 
velopment through  aeons  of  ages  towards  some  far-off, 
divine  event,  undefined  as  3-et  by  this  theology,  but 
having,  in  my  judgment,  apparently  but  one  logical 
issue,  viz.,  annihilation  for  countless  myriads  of  the 
human  race,  with  some  sort  of  a  beatification  for  the 
comparatively  few  favored  ones  whose  happy  lot  it  shall 
be  finally  to  form  the  ultimate  crown  of  the  infinite  series 
in  the  measureless  future  !  This  seems  the  only  logical 
result;  but  the  logical  and  theological  are  not  always 
absolutely  identical,  and  "along  the  heights"  of  the 
latter  I  sometimes  seem  to  catch  fugitive  glimpses  of 
views  which  squint  towards  a  species  of  restorationism 
or  universalism,  as  a  result  of  the  all-embracing  love  of 
the  immanent  God. 

Here  ends  our  survey  of  the  field  as  a  whole ;  and  our 
deliberate  verdict  upon  the  scheme  in  its  entirety,  its  in- 
herent nature,  and  its  logical  results,  must  be  that 
nothing  but  the  pale  ghost  of  a  spiritualized  pantheism 
stands  between  it  and  the  doom  of  a  blank  atheism. 
This  conviction  begets  hope  within  us ;  our  age  has  no 


236  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

place  for  atheism,  nor  do  we  think  pantheism  in  any 
form  can  long  be  popular. 

Following  this  general  summary,  I  single  out  for 
more  particular  emphasis  in  detail  the  developments  of 
this  theology  in  several  capital  directions  : 

I.    The  Doctrine  of  the  Diviyie  Fatherhood. 

They  charge  the  conservative  theology  with  obscur- 
ing the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  they  claim  the  honor  of 
rescuing  this  doctrine  from  such  obscuration  and  of 
bringing  it  afresh  and  prominently  before  the  world. 
They  institute  a  comparison  between  the  earlier  Greek 
theology  and  the  Latin,  alleging  the  latter  to  be  harsher, 
sterner,  more  scholastic,  less  spiritual,  and  they  assert 
that  under  its  domination  the  fatherhood  has  been  buried 
in  the  sovereignty. 

I  judge  that  there  may  be  possibly  some  plausibility 
at  least  in  this  charge ;  it  is  altogether  likely  that  Latin 
theology  lays  more  stress  on  the  sovereignty  than  on  the 
fatherhood.  It  is  the  distinguishing  characteristic,  and 
we  have  been  accustomed  hitherto  to  consider  it  equally 
the  distinguishing  glory,  of  Calvinistic  theology  that 
beyond  any  other  and  beyond  all  other  it  emphasized 
the  sovereignty  of  God.  This  more  than  anything  else 
has  given  to  Calvinism  its  strength  and  strenuousness, 
its  sturdiness  and  persistence,  its  reverence  for  God,  and 
its  regard  for  man  made  in  God's  image;  it  is  this  that 
makes  it  fear  God  so  supremely  that  it  fears  naught 
beside  him,  it  is  this  that  teaches  a  submission  to  God 
so  humble  and  so  utter  as  to  leave  no  room  for  submis- 
sion to  aught  beneath  him. 

That  God  is  the  Father  it  has  always  taught,  taught 
clearly,  taught  constantly,  taught  consistently,  but  it 
has  taught  that  he  is  sovereign  first,  then  father ;  a 
sovereign  who  is  also  a  father,  rnther  than  a  father  who 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        237 

is  also  a  sovereign.  There  is  much  in  this  order,  so 
much  that  it  colors  the  whole  of  theology ;  this,  more- 
over, is  the  Scripture  order. 

The  difference  between  the  old  theology  and  the  new 
is  not  that  the  latter  teaches  the  fatherhood  more  clearly, 
but  that  it  broadens  it  more  widely ;  not  that  it  emphasizes 
it  more  strongly,  but  that  it  extends  it  more  unlimitedly. 
When,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  current  the- 
ology charge  that  conservative  orthodoxy  "obscures" 
the  fatherhood,  let  it  be  understood  distinctly  that  what 
they  really  mean  is  that  it  limits  the  fatherhood  ;  and  this 
is  what  "an  increasing  frankness"  and  "a  deepening 
sincerity  "  ought  to  say.  Let  me  add  here  that  in  such 
limitation  it  simply  follows  the  explicit  and  uniform 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

According  to  the  new  theology  the  fatherhood  is 
broadened  until  it  embraces  the  whole  human  race,  as  a 
race ;  all  mankind  are  the  children  of  God.  There  is  a 
general,  vague  sense  in  which  this  is  true,  but  not  at  all 
in  the  sense  in  which  the  new  theology  teaches.  One  of 
their  most  eminent  representatives  declares  : 

"Man  as  man  is  God's  child,  and  the  sin  of  the  man  consists 
in  ijerpetually  living  as  if  it  were  false.  It  is  the  sin  of  the 
heathen,  and  what  is  your  mission  but  to  tell  him  that  he  is  God's 
child  and  not  living  up  to  his  privilege?  " 

Concerning  this  so-called  development,  I  have  space 
for  only  two  remarks  : 

I.  In  this  boasted  extension  of  the  relation,  all  that 
ever  made  it  precious  has  been  developed  out  of  it.  If, 
to  borrow  the  language  of  the  advocates  of  this  view, 
the  heathen  bowing  down  to  stocks  and  stones  is  as 
really  the  child  of  God  as  he  whom  the  new  theology 
calls  ' '  the  conscious  child  "  of  God,  then  quoad  the  father- 
hood the  whole  difference  is  purely  subjective  ;   so  far  as 


238  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  objective  fact  is  concerned,  the  most  degraded  and 
debased  heathen  and  the  humblest,  devoutest  saint  stand 
in  the  sight  of  God  on  the  same  level,  save  in  the  matter 
of  illumination ;  this  is  what  their  extension  of  the  doc- 
trine means,  if  it  niea7is  a7iy thing  differe7it  fro7n  what  con- 
servative theology  has  been  teaching  from  time  immemorial. 
But  if  it  does  mean  this,  then  their  extension  of  the  doc- 
trine has  entirely  done  away  with  the  fatherhood  in  any 
true  and  proper  sense  by  reducing  in  practically  to  the 
creatorship. 

2.  My  second  remark  is  that  the  whole  teaching  of 
Scripture  is  definitely  and  decisivelj*  against  this  pal- 
pable absurdity. 

The  word  of  God  nowhere  proclaims  this  a  privilege 
common  to  man  as  man,  but  one  bestowed  on  man  as  a 
believer  and  upon  the  inexorable  condition  of  his  faith ; 
no  man  enters  into  it  by  his  natural  birth,  but  by  a 
spiritual  birth,  a  being  born  again  ;  he  is  not  created  a 
child  in  Adam,  but  recreated  a  child  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Consider,  e.  g. ,  the  Scriptures  relied  upon  by  our  pro- 
gressive brethren  as  sustaining  their  view.   Gal.  iii.  26-29: 

"26.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

"27.  For  as  many  of  yon  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ 
have  put  on  Christ. 

"28.  There  is  neitiier  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond 
nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

"29.  And  if  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  and 
heirs  according  to  the  promise." 

Even  the  most  cursory  exegesis  of  that  passage  de- 
monstrates infallibly  : 

(i),  That  the  "all"  addressed  are  professed  believers 
in  Christ;  to  such  are  the  words  spoken,  not  to  man  as 
man,  nor  even  to  Jew  as  Jew. 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        239 

(2),  They  are  said  distinctly  to  be  the  children  of  God 
' '  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  ' ' ;  not  by  virtue  of  birth  into  a 
sanctified  race,  nor  by  virtue  of  the  historic  fact  of  an 
incarnation  or  generic  result  of  it,  nor  yet  by  virtue  of  the 
fact  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  but  by  their  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

(3),  It  is  a  class  who  have  "put  on  Christ"  by  a  bap- 
tism into  him ;  uniformly  in  the  Scriptures  a  spiritual 
baptism. 

(4),  And  by  virtue  of  such  personal  unign  with  Christ 
this  faith,  baptism,  enduement,  nullifies  all  distinctions- 
of  race,  sex,  and  caste;  such  as  have  experienced  it  be- 
come thereby  and  therefrom  "one  in  Christ  Jesus," 
what  they  never  were,  and  never  could  have  been  by 
nature. 

(5),  This  oneness  is  solely  from  Christ  and  solely  in 
him ;  he  is  at  once  the  source  and  the  sphere  of  its  opera- 
tion. 

(6),  As  such  they  are  ' '  Abraham's  seed, ' '  not  Adam's ; 
?.  e. ,  an  c/ecl  seed;  and  they  are  ' '  heirs  according  to  the 
promise,"  a  promise  made  not  to  mankind,  but  to  one 
elect  family  of  mankind. 

(7),  Those  who  are  ' '  Christ's  "  are  heirs,  and  only  those. 

The  language  could  not  have  been  more  explicit,  em- 
phatic, and  effective  if  it  had  been  constructed  expressly 
to  refute  the  very  error  it  is  cited  to  sustain. 

John  i.  II,  12,  is  another  passage  referred  to  as  sup- 
porting the  view : 

"II.  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not." 

"12.  But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to 

become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  beheve  on  his  name." 

We  are  told  in  comment : 

"They  were  his  own,  but  they  wanted  power  to  become  his 
own.  Draw  a  distinction,  then,  between  being  the  child  of  God 
and  realizing  it." 


240  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

Now,  ill  what  sense  the}^  were  ' '  his  own ' '  when  he 
came  to  them  ?  Does  it  mean  that  they  were  the  sons  of 
God?  Were  they  the  sons  of  God  when  the}-  rejected 
him?  (See  Jno.  viii.  38-44.)  Was  there  no  difference  be- 
tween Annas  and  Caiaphas  on  the  one  hand,  and  Peter  and 
John  on  the  other,  save  that  the  latter  had  power  to  reahze 
that  they  were  sons,  whereas  the  former,  though  as  really 
S071S,  had  not  power  to  reahze  the  fact?  Such  would  seem 
to  be  the  content  of  the  comment ;  but  note : 

"  He  came  unto  his  own  (race),  but  his  own  (race)  re- 
ceived him  not  (as  the  Christ  or  Messiah),  but  as  many 
as  received  him,  to  ihent  gave  he  power  {e^ovffia  not 
dvvapiis)  to  become  the  sons  of  God ;  "  not  to  reaUze  that 
they  were  sons,  but  to  become  such;  and  this  e^ovaia 
"right,  authority,  privilege,"  is  expressly  here,  as  else- 
where, limited  to  those  that  believe  in  his  name,  exactly 
the  same  truth  taught  in  the  previous  passage  ;  by  faith 
they  become  sons  of  God,  what  they  were  not,  and  could 
not  have  been,  before  they  believed.  Once  more ;  James 
i.  18,  is  quoted,  "Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  by  the 
word  of  truth,"  and  then  it  is  added,  "But  remember,  it 
is  a  truth ;  true  whether  you  believe  it  or  not ;  true 
whether  you  are  baptized  or  not." 

The  obvious  assumption  underlying  this  comment  be- 
ing, that  by  "truth"  in  the  Scripture  text  James  means 
the  truth  of  the  divine  fatherhood,  as  referred  to  in  the 
comment,  though  this  is  so  palpable  a  perversion  as  hardh' 
to  consist  with  common  honesty  in  a  commentator. 
"The  word  of  truth,"  in  the  text,  most  evidently  means 
the  word  of  God,  regularly  referred  to  as  the  instrumen- 
tal agenc}'  of  the  new  birth.  James  does  not  teach  in 
that  text  that  men  are  brought  by  the  truth  of  the  divine 
fatherhood  to  realize  that  they  are  sons,  but  that  sons 
are  begotten  by  the  gospel.     This  text  would  seem,  from 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        241 

the  Yery  plainness  of  the  figure  used,  to  be  beyond  the 
possibility  of  misconstruction ;  it  ought  not  to  be  neces- 
sary to  emphasize,  to  any  considerable  extent,  that  one 
could  not  be  a  child  before  he  was  begotten. 

The  new  theology  is  very  happy  in  some  things,  but 
exegesis  is  not  its  forte. 

II.  One  of  the  most  Significant  Departures  0/  the  New 
Theology  is  Seen  in  the  Emphasis  it  Places  on  the  hicarna- 

ti07l. 

As  between  the  incarnation  and  the  atonement,  con- 
servative theology  has  always  laid  chief  stress  on  the  lat- 
ter, regarding  the  incarnation,  in  its  relation  to  the  atone- 
ment, as  a  means  to  an  end ;  God  the  Son  becoming  the 
incarnate  Christ  in  order  that  he  might  render  the  atone- 
Tuent.  "Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  children  are  partakers 
of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part  of 
the  same;  that  though  death  \iQ  vaight  destroy  him  that 
hath  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil." 

The  new  theology  reverses  the  emphasis  of  the  old, 
and  lays  its  chief  stress  on  the  incarnation  ;  its  writers 
have  very  little  to  say  of  the  atonement,  and  that  little  so 
exceedingly  vague  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  dis- 
cover, with  any  satisfying  exactness,  just  what  their 
conception  of  the  atonement  is ;  so  far  as  their  allusions 
go,  they  indicate,  in  my  judgment,  a  Socinian  concep- 
tion. They  write  much  as  though  they  believed  the 
incarnation  to  be  the  natural,  logical,  inevitable  crown  of 
a  revealing  process  ;  that  it  would  have  occurred  even 
had  there  been  no  sin  to  atone  for.  As  one  says  :  ' '  That 
the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  was  also  intimately 
connected  with  the  laws  of  God  as  they  are  revealed  in 
outward  nature,  that  his  manifestation  in  the  flesh  was 
part  of  an  immutable,  eternal  purpose." 

One  of  the  very  latest  exponents  of  this  school  prophe- 


242  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

sies  that  in  the  improved  theology  of  the  future  "the 
incarnation  will  not  be  an  expedient,  but  a  consummation." 
This  phrase  is  exceedingly  significant,  not  an  expedient, 
but  a  consummation !  not  a  means  to  fulfil  some  divine 
purpose,  of  which  it  was  the  necessary  antecedent  condi- 
tion, but  the  final  flower  of  a  past  process  long  unfolding 
through  the  ages.  Mark  it,  it  is  not  the  atonement  that 
is  the  consummation,  but  the  incarnation.  And  of  what 
is  the  incarnation  a  consummation?  Why,  evidently,  of 
revelation ;  Christ  is  viewed  thus  not  as  the  redeemer  of 
man,  but  the  revealer  of  God;  here  is  the  force  of  the 
epigrammatic  contrast  between  expedient  and  consum- 
mation ;  he  is  the  prophet,  not  the  priest.  Here  you 
have  the  genesis  and  the  genius  of  the  whole  soteriology 
of  the  school,  its  informing  spirit.  This  rightly  appre- 
hended and  properly  appreciated  also  explains  its  remark- 
able affin'  with  certain  hoary  old  heresies  anent  the 
person  of  Christ.  This  is  why  Unitarianism,  e.  g.,  has 
been  so  ready  to  applaud  the  movement,  and  so  prompt 
to  claim  its  representatives. 

The  new  theology  lays  its  emphasis  on  the  birth,  not 
on  the  death ;  the  manger  is  its  focal  point,  not  the 
cross — the  dreamy,  poetic  sentimentalisni  of  the  three 
orient  visitors  at  the  cradle,  rather  than  the  awestruck 
group  around  the  cross  that  watched  the  divine  tragedy 
enacting  between  a  darkening  heaven  and  a  shuddering 
earth. 

To  a  reflecting  mind,  that  this  is  a  clear  reversal  of  the 
Scripture  emphasis  is  evident : 

I .  The  word  of  God  teaches  that  Christ  came  to  die. 
This  is  one  distinctive  feature  that,  amid  much  that  is 
common  to  humanity,  differentiates  his  birth  from  that 
of  all  the  rest  of  the  sons  of  men,  viz. :  that  whereas  in 
the  case  of  every  other  human  being  death  is  but  the 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        243 

fatal  catastrophe  that  puts  summary  arrest  on  all  the 
plans  and  purposes  of  earthly  life,  in  his  case  it  was  the 
fulfilment  of  all  its  plans  and  purposes,  the  crown  and 
the  consummation  of  the  whole,  the  accomplishment 
unto  which  and  until  which  he  was  straitened.  When 
he  cried  out,  "It  is  finished,"  he  meant  not  that  his  life 
was  ended,  but  that  its  purpose  was  accomplished,  its 
mission  fulfilled.  He  came  literally  to  die,  his  life  was 
in  order  to  his  death. 

2.  Beginning  with  the  Acts,  we  find  the  apostles 
plainly  ignorant  of  this  great  development.  The  incar- 
nation yields  to  the  atonement,  and  the  death  of  Christ, 
in  its  purpose  and  effect,  becomes  the  great  burden  of 
apostolic  preaching.  Little  is  said  of  the  life  as  com- 
pared with  the  place  given  to  the  death  ;  this  is  too  pa- 
tent to  need  enlarging  upon ;  indeed,  a  recent  writer  of 
the  new  school  marks  this,  and  himself  call  .ctention  to 
it,  and  construes  it  as  a  mark  of  inferiority,  indicating 
rather  a  doctrinal  departure  than  a  doctrinal  development, 
and  he  depreciates  the  apostolic  preaching  on  that  account. 
His  criticism  serves  at  least  to  make  one  thing  clear ; 
either  the  apostles  have  "  departed, "  or  the  new  theology 
has  ;  as  between  the  two,  I  am  frank  to  say  that  I  prefer 
to  "depart"  and  be  with  the  apostles. 

3.  So  dominant  was  Christ's  death  in  apostolic  doc- 
trine, that  the  very  words,  "cross  of  Christ,"  became  vir- 
tually synonymous  with  the  word  gospel.  This  was  what 
Paul  preached  ;  it  was  this  that  Paul  gloried  in  ;  he  de- 
termined not  to  know  anything  save  Christ  crucified. 

Had  the  new  theology's  conception  prevailed  then, 
such  phraseology  could  never  in  the  world  have  become 
current.  This  apostolic  emphasis  of  the  death  of  Christ, 
so  decided,  so  uniform,  is  absolutely  fatal  to  this  new 
view  of  the  incarnation ;  aye,  more,  it  is  a  complete  re- 
versal of  it. 


244  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

III.  Of  all  the  Alleged  Improvements  Proffered  by  the 
C^orent  Theology,  the  Most  Pleasiizg  and  Plausible  is  that 
which  Pleads  for  a  Christocent^ic  Theology. 

Its  rallying  cry  is  "Back  to  Christ!"  which  certainly 
has  much  to  commend  it  to  the  devout.  Were  the  phrase 
slightly  changed,  and  "Clo.se  to  Christ,"  or  even  "  Closer 
to  Christ"  substituted,  I  should  have  less  fault  to  find; 
but  the  words  back  to  Christ  imply  that  conservative 
theology  has  departed  from  Christ,  illustrating  a  feature 
common  to  all  their  claims,  viz.,  that  every  claim  is,  on 
its  obverse,  a  charge.  As  I  deny  the  charge  I  challenge 
the  phrase.  The  true  character  of  this  rallying  cry  and 
its  far-reaching  significance  become  evident  when  we  dis- 
cover that  in  the  usage  of  its  advocates  it  applies  not  to 
the  theology  of  the  seventeenth  century  only,  as  they  call 
it,  but  also  to  that  of  the  first  century.  It  is  urged  not 
against  John  Calvin  alone,  but  also  against  John  Calvin's 
great  forerunner  in  Calvinism,  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  we 
are  urged  to  go  back  from  Paul  to  Christ ;  this  fact  should 
give  us  pause,  lest  we  find  ourselves  invited  to  go  not 
back  to  Christ,  but  to  go  back  of  Christ,  whither  I  be- 
lieve not  a  few  of  the  new  theologists  have  already  gone. 

The  allegation  is  made  that  the  orthodox  theology 
puts  an  exaggerated  emphasis,  lays  undue  stress  on 
sin ;  hence  the  new  theology  calls  the  Calvinistic  system 
a  sincentric,  rather  than  a  Christocentric  theology.  They 
urge  that  sin  is  at  most  but  an  incident  or  an  accident  in 
the  nature  and  history  of  man,  that  it  is  not  at  all  of  the 
essence  of  man,  so  to  speak,  and,  therefore,  to  make  all 
theology  turn  on  the  doctrine  of  sin  is  to  convert  a  mere 
accidcTit  into  the  very  essence  of  truth,  determinative  of 
the  whole  system. 

This  objection  has  a  very  plausible  sound,  and  the 
assumption  of  philosophic  terms  gives  it  the  appearance 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        245 

of  force,  just  as  the  semi-scientific  jargon  it  is  fond  of 
using  gives  it  weight  often  with  the  popular  mind ;  but 
that  it  is  only  plausible  we  think  is  easily  demonstrable 
to  any  thoughtful  hearer. 

I.  Admit,  if  you  please,  the  charge  that  the  conserva- 
tive theology  is  sincf^ntric,  it  is  only  so  because  the  Bible 
is,  and  it  is  not  more  so  than  the  Bible.  The  word  of 
God  might  be  entitled,  Man's  Ruin  and  God's  Remedy. 
It  reveals  in  the  very  beginning  man's  initial  sin,  and 
from  that  point,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  it  is  a  his- 
tory of  the  conflict  advertised  in  the  protevangelium  be- 
tween the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  serpent;  this  I 
conceive  to  be  its  prime  purpose,  all  else  is  but  inci- 
dental and  ancillary  to  this  the  main  object  of  the  book : 
to  trace  the  development  of  God's  redeeming  purpose 
through  all  ages  and  dispensations  until  the  volume  ends, 
as  it  began,  in  a  paradise,  descending  from  God  out  of 
heaven  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  In 
the  very  beginning  man  became  a  sinner ;  from  that 
moment  all  his  relations  to  God  were  those  of  a  sinner, 
all  his  approaches  to  God  were  the  approaches  of  a  sin- 
ner, all  of  God's  revelations  to  him  were  revelations  to 
a  sinner,  all  of  God's  dealings  with  him  were  dealings 
with  a. sinner.  Any  theology  that  did  not  take  this  into 
account  would  be  false  to  fact,  and  hence  unfaithful  to 
truth.  If  this  constitutes  a  theology  sincentric,  then 
sincentric  it  must  be.  If  man  be  such  a  sinner  as  the 
word  of  Cxod  declares  him  to  be,  then  nothing  short  of 
this  theology  can  suit  him,  because  nothing  short  of  it 
can  save  him.  What  sort  of  theology  man  would  have 
had  had  he  never  sinned,  we  do  not  know,  and  we  are 
not  greatly  concerned  to  inquire ;  it  is  a  condition  that 
confronts  us,  not  a  theory;  consen^ative  theology  meets 
that  condition  and  meets  it  exactly  as  the  Bible  does. 


246  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

2.  The  contrast  between  the  essential  and  the  acci- 
dental is  mere  jugglery  with  philosophic  terms.  The 
implication  is  that  traditional  theology  converts  the  acci- 
dental into  the  essential,  an  implication  manifestly  ab- 
surd upon  its  very  face.  That  this  is  so,  is  proven  by 
the  fact  that  orthodox  theolog}-  teaches  that  in  the  begin- 
ning man  was  without  sin,  and  that  in  the  end  he  shall 
be  again  free  from  it,  that  the  perfect  man  is  a  sinless 
man.  This  is  the  very  raison  d'  etre  of  its  so-called  sin- 
centric  theology. 

When  our  enterprising  brethren  lay  such  stress  on  the 
' '  incidental ' '  character  of  sin  we  could  retort  by  remind- 
ing them  that  the  incidental  may  be  exceedingly  influen- 
tial; e.  g.,  a  prosperous,  active,  independent  mechanic 
falls  from  a  scaffold  and  is  picked  up  insensible ;  he  re- 
covers, to  be  a  cripple  for  life ;  he  must  lie  prone  upon 
his  back  and  be  tended  like  an  infant,  his  whole  loco- 
motor system  is  paralyzed ;  he  may  live  fifty  years  after- 
ward, sound  and  well  in  every  other  respect,  neverthe- 
less his  whole  after-life  will  be  determined  and  controlled 
by  that  incident,  and  it  is  of  little  weight  to  say  that 
such  a  condition  is  not  of  the  "essence"  of  the  man,  and 
ought,  therefore,  not  to  be  determinative  of  his  future  ; 
it  is  such,  nevertheless.  Just  so  the  Bible  tells  us  that 
in  the  youth  of  the  world  mankind  suffered  a  fall,  and 
that  by  it  his  moral  backbone  was  broken,  that  he  has 
been  ever  since  a  confirmed  cripple — aye,  even  worse,  by 
far,  it  teaches  that  this  ' '  mere  incident ' '  spiritually  sleiu 
him  ! 

3.  Any  attempted  contrast  between  a  Christocentric 
theology  and  a  sincentric  seems  to  me  singularly  out 
of  place.  The  truth  is,  that  a  theology  will  be  really 
Christocentric  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  sincentric ;  no 
system  can   properly  exalt   Christ    that   underestimates 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        247 

sin.  No  system  has  ever  honored  the  Saviour  as  Cal- 
vinism has,  and  this  plausible  pretense  of  the  new  the- 
ology sounds  like  the  mock  homage  of  the  reed  sceptre 
and  the  crown  of  thorns.  Calvinistic  theology,  however, 
strictly  speaking,  is  neither  sincentric  nor  yet  Christo- 
centric  ;  it  is  theocentric ;  for  while  recognizing  the  abso- 
lute sovereignty  and  mediatorial  supremacy  of  our  ador- 
able Lord,  it  looks  forward  to  the  ultimate  time  ' '  when 
he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even 
the  Father.  .  .  .  And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued 
unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto 
him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all 
in  all." 

IV.  The  Ciirre7it  Popular  Theology  gives  a  large  place 
to  what  it  calls  the  Ch7'istian  Consciousness. 

Schleiermacher  maintained  that  religion  resides  in  the 
sensibility,  not  in  the  intelligence,  nor  in  the  will,  nor 
in  the  active  powers  of  man ;  that  it  is  a  form  of  feeling, 
which  he  specified  more  particularly  as  a  sense  of  abso- 
lute dependence.  This  was  the  fundamental  position  of 
his  theology,  or  philosophy,  rather ;  for  his  system  is 
more  properly  the  latter  than  the  former.  This  sense  of 
dependence  he  declared  to  be  the  essential  principle  of 
all  religion  in  every  form,  from  the  lowest  up  to  the 
highest.  How  this  sense  of  dependence  will  express  it- 
self will  depend  mainly  upon  the  degree  of  culture  in  the 
individual  or  the  community ;  the  more  enlightened  and 
pure  a  person  is,  the  more  will  he  be  able  to  appreciate 
what  is  involved  in  this  sense  of  dependence  upon  God. 
All  men  have  naturally  this  sense  of  dependence,  or  God- 
consciousness,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  lying  dormant, 
to  be  awakened,  developed,  cultured  and  illuminated  by 
various  agencies  and  influences.  When  this  religious 
consciousness,  or  God-consciousness,  has  been  awakened, 


248  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

developed,  cultivated  to  a  certain  stage,  it  becomes  then 
the  Christian  consciousness. 

One  of  his  admirers  among  the  representatives  of  the 
current  theology  says : 

"  Schleiermacher  spoke  not  only  of  a  religious  consciousness 
in  man  whose  primary  characteristic  was  the  feeling  of  depend- 
ence upon  God,  but  also  of  what  he  called  the  Christian  consci- 
ousness, the  product  of  specifically  Christian  influences  during' 
the  ages  of  the  church.  The  fact  of  a  Christ,  his  teaching,  and 
the  events  of  his  life  had  entered  into  history,  becoming  in- 
wrought, as  it  were,  into  the  consciousness,  as  if  an  essential 
part  of  its  furniture.  For  this  reason  the  history  of  the  church 
became  the  continuation  of  a  revealing  process,  in  which  the 
action  of  God,  as  the  indwelling  Spirit,  perpetuated  and  de- 
veloped the  work  of  Christ." 

And  -vhe  admiring  follower  speaks  of  this  view  as 
"redeeming  the  study  of  history." 

The  results  of  such  views  cannot  be  better  expressed 
than  in  the  terse  but  comprehensive  words  of  Dr.  Hodge  •. 

"Christianity  subjectively  considered  is  the  intuitions  of  good 
men,  as  occasioned  and  determined  by  the  appearance  of  Christ. 
Objectively  considered,  or  in  other  words.  Christian  theology, 
is  the  logical  analysis  and  scientific  arrangement  and  elucidation 
of  the  truths  involved  in  those  intuitions." 

According  to  this  basal  principle  of  Schleiermacher, 
Christianity  is  a  strictly  natural  development,  just  as 
really  so  as  is  agriculture ;  the  latest  forms  of  Christian 
faith  bearing  very  much  the  same  relation  to  the  fetichism 
of  the  heathen  that  the  agricultural  implements  of  this 
century  bear  to  the  crude  devices  of  primitive  ages.  As 
has  already  been  said,  Christianity  was  as  closely  con- 
nected with  heathenism  as  with  Judaism ;  so  far  as  in- 
herent character  is  concerned  "  there  was  no  more  affinity 
with  it  in  Judaism  than  in  the  higher  forms  of  heathen 
thought." 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        249 

Such  views  of  the  nature  and  the  origin  of  Christianity 
necessarily  take  from  inspiration  all  its  distinctive  char- 
acter and  rob  it  of  all  that  is  extraordinary  by  reducing- 
it  to  mere  illumination,  the  same  in  kind  as  that  shared 
by  all  believers;  a  mere  intuition  or  understanding  of 
truth  determined  in  degree  by  religious  experience,  de- 
pending for  its  efficiency  and  its  value  largely  upon  the 
character,  the  circumstances,  the  opportunities,  the  ad- 
vantages, of  the  particular  individual  in  each  case. 

The  Scriptures  have,  and  can  have,  no  real  authority 
as  a  rule  of  faith ;  their  chief  value,  indeed  their  only 
practical  value,  is  to  stimulate  men  to  strive  after  the 
experience  of  the  religious  life  of  its  writers,  and  thus  to 
attain,  each  for  himself,  a  like  intuition  of  divine  things. 

Any  one  familiar  with  the  writings  of  the  current 
popular  theology  will  at  once  recognize  the  exceeding 
close  kinship,  the  remarkable  similarit}',  between  the 
Christian  consciousness,  which  plays  so  prominent  a  part 
in  its  system,  and  the  views  of  Schleiermacher.  Its 
advocates  use  the  term  somewhat  vagueh' ;  sometimes 
as  if  it  were  very  nearly  synonymous  with  human 
reason,  generally  as  though  it  were  equivalent  to  the 
common  consent  of  the  religious  sensibility  of  universal 
Christendom,  a  combination  of  reason  and  feeling,  the 
human  heart  and  the  human  intellect  under  the  illumi- 
nating and  developing  influences  of  God's  grace  and 
providence ;  and  this  alleged  common  consent,  as  an  in- 
tuition, is  invested  with  the  semper^  ubiquc,  ab  oinnibus 
attributes  which  constitute  it  in  the  judgment  of  its 
advocates  a  court  of  final  and  supreme  resort. 

For  example,  we  read : 

' '  We  can  go  further  and  claim,  not  only  that  the  Christian 
consciousness  is  the  organ  of  increasing  knowledge,  but  also  that 
all  statements  and  interpretations  of  truth,  to  be  accepted,  must 


250  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

commend  themselves  to  the  Christian  consciounsess.  ...  Its 
function,  then,  may  be  considered  both  the  development  and  the 
testinc;  of  progressive  theology. 

"The  Christian  consciousness  of  to-day,  which  is  itself  a  pro- 
duct of  the  gospel,  cannot  be  contradicted  by  the  gospel.  Hence 
any  theories  which  claim  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Bible,  yet 
against  which  Christian  sentiment  protests,  should  not  be  ac- 
cepted. ' 

"The  mind  accepts  revelation  because  it  accepts  the  sub- 
stance of  revelation.  .  .  .  The  reason  believes  the  revelation 
because  in  itself  it  is  reasonable.  .  .  .  It  is  as  legitimate  for 
the  reason  to  pass  judgment  upon  the  contents  of  revelation,  as 
upon  the  grounds  of  receiving  it.  .  .  .  It  enters  into  the 
material  of  revelation  and  plants  its  feet  there." 

The  author's  own  emphasis  of  certain  words  in  the 
preceding  paragraph  relieves  the  necessity  of  comment  on 
the  part  of  the  present  .speaker ;  nor  need  I  pause  here 
to  show  that,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  this  view  of 
the  character  and  office  of  the  Christian  con.sciousness 
puts  the  current  theology  practicalh'  and  squarely  on  the 
platform  of  Schleiermacher. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Bible  is  divested  of  all  authority  ; 
it  is  accepted  only  .so  far  as  it  commends  itself  to  the  in- 
dividual Christian  consciousness  of  the  reader ;  anything 
that  he  considers  unreasonable,  he  refuses  ;  anything  not 
in  accord  with  his  sentiment,  he  rejects  ;  the  obvious, 
the  inevitable  result,  is,  that  every  man  becomes  vir- 
tually the  maker  of  his  own  Bible  ! 

I  shall  dismiss  this  doctrine  of  the  Chri.stian  conscious- 
ness with  two  remarks : 

'  But  how  would  this  application  of  the  very  same  logic  do  ? 

"The  Christian  consciousness  of  to-day,  which  is  itself  a  pro- 
duct of  the  gospel,  cannot  be  contradicted  by  the  gospel." 
Hence  any  setitiment  which  claims  to  be  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness^ yet  contradicts  the  Bible,  is  thereby  proveti  spurious  and 
should  not  be  accepted. 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.        251 

I.  I  deny  its  very  existence.  It  is  a  mere  figment  of 
the  imagination.  It  is  constantly  referred  to,  and  de- 
ferred to,  as  if  it  were  a  universal  and  unanimous  con- 
sensus of  the  Christian  mind  and  heart,  an  infallible 
authority,  an  ultimate  appeal ;  whereas  this  vaunted 
Christian  consciousness  is  at  best  nothing  more  than  the 
clamorous  claim  of  a  comparatively  small  coterie  of  self- 
confident  men,  who  remind  one  of  a  hopeless  minority  in 
a  deliberative  body,  that  strives  to  make  up  in  noise  what 
it  lacks  in  numbers;  the-  fussy  few  who  are  the  ecclesi- 
astical Ishraaelites  of  their  respective  denominations. 
Can  any  man  doubt  that  these  self-styled  "progressives" 
are  an  insignificant  minority  when  compared  with  the 
great  body  of  conservative  believers  ?  Can  there  be  any 
question  of  the  fact  that  the  common  consent  of  Christian 
feeling,  if  there  be  such  a  thing,  is  against  their  views? 

If  I  be  answered  that  the  consciousness  referred  to  is 
not  that  of  the  great  body  of  ignorant  believers,  but 
rather  the  verdict  of  the  learned,  those  qualified  to  under- 
stand such  matters,  my  reply  would  be,  first :  That  this 
vacates  virtually  the  position  entirely,  such  an  answer  is 
a  surrender.  But,  second :  not  even  can  this  surrender 
avail,  for  there  is  among  this  limited  class  no  such  una- 
nimity of  assent  as  is  assumed.  We  have  the  Christian 
consciousness  in  Andover  and  Union  (New  York)  Semi- 
naries asserting  one  thing,  while  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness in  Princeton,  McCormick,  Union,  (Virginia),  Colum- 
bia, Louisville,  Clarksville,  etc.,  asserts  exactly  the  con- 
trary. 

You  find  this  semper^  jibtqjce,  ab  omnibus  intuition  most 
confidently  asserting  certain  things  through  the  lips  01 
our  very  progressive  brother  Lyman  Abott  in  Brooklyn, 
and  immediately  the  Congregational  Council,  of  which 
he   is  a  member,  holds  a  meeting  and  gravely  informs 


252  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  world  that  brother  Abbott's  Christian  consciousness 
is  not  their  Christian  consciousness.  Now,  then,  it  be- 
comes a  very  practical  and  a  very  puzzling  question, 
whose  Christian  consciousness  is  authority?  And  in  this 
question  lies  the  refutation  of  the  whole  absurdity,  which 
brings  me  to  my  second  remark : 

2.   The  doctrine  is  not  a  figment  only,  it  is  a  folly. 

The  criticism  must  be  arrested  here,  not  for  lack  of 
material  but  for  want  of  time. 

In  my  opening  sentence  I  stated  that  when  the  present 
stage  of  our  discussion  should  have  been  reached,  the 
relation  between  the  current  theology  and  the  West- 
minster symbols  would  be  self-evident,  and  that  the  part 
the  latter  must  play  in  the  needs  of  the  future  would  be 
implicit  in  the  comparison.  If  only  the  smallest  measure 
of  success  has  attended  my  effort  at  a  review  of  the  cur- 
rent theology,  this  relation  is  now  seen  to  be  clearly 
that  of  contrast  decided  and  complete,  embracing  sources, 
methods  and  results;  there  is  scarcely  a  material  point 
of  agreement  between  the  two ;  if  one  is  right,  the  other 
is  radically  and  comprehensively  wrong.  Let  the  new 
use  the  dialect  of  the  old  as  it  will,  its  meaning  and  in- 
tent, its  spirit  and  motive,  must  soon  become  evident ;  the 
trade-marks  of  the  old  cannot  much  longer  accredit  it  in 
the  esteem  of  any  save  of  such  as  are  so  blind  that  they 
will  not  see.  We  trust  that  their  revision  and  restate- 
ment will  keep  pace  with  their  progress  and  will  honestly 
reflect  that  progress.  We  crave  a  speedy  formulation  of 
their  faith,  one  that  shall  fairly  and  fully  register  their 
advance ;  let  them  leave  their  vagueness  and  give  us 
something  definite ;  abandon  the  negative,  the  destruc- 
tive, and  assume  the  positive,  undertake  the  construc- 
tive;   let  them  put  forth  their  revised  symbols.      We 


The  Symbols  and  Popular  Theology.         253 

heartily  commend  for  their  consideration  the  following 
as  the  first  question  and  answer  in  their  improved  cate- 
chism : 

' '  What  is  the  chief  end  of  God? 

God's  chief  end  is  to  glojify  man  and  to  develop  him  for- 
ever. ' ' 

If  such  be  the  relation  between  the  two  systems,  the 
only  position  consistently  open  to  the  Westminster  the- 
ology is  that  of  unyielding  opposition ;  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  harmony,  there  ought  to  be  no  place  for  com- 
promise ;  as  long  as  it  is  faithful  to  the  duty  of  contend- 
ing earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  so 
long  must  it  resist  the  advance  of  this  modern  type  of 
theology.  Like  its  greatest  representative,  it  is  "set  for 
the  defence  of  the  gospel. "  Its  coherence  of  thought ;  its 
compactness  of  logical  structure ;  its  definiteness  and 
clearness  of  statement ;  its  unswerving  loyalty  to  God's 
word ;  its  constant  resort  to  that  word  as  its  ultimate 
appeal,  its  final  and  infallible  authority;  its  exaltation 
of  God  as  sovereign  ;  its  humbling  influence  on  the  pride 
and  prejudice  of  man  ;  its  emphasis  of  the  doctrines  of 
divine  grace — all  fit  it  to  sen^e  both  as  a  test  of  truth 
and  as  a  bulwark  against  error,  at  once  the  safe  guide 
and  the  safeguard  of  pure,  scriptural  doctrine. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  when  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures is  discredited  and  every  man  taught  to  mould  his 
theology  solely  according  to  his  tastes,  his  sentiments, 
his  prejudices,  there  can  be  no  assurance  for  the  future; 
there  remains  no  standard  but  individual  preference,  and 
not  only  theology,  but  even  morals  are  at  the  mercy  of 
mere  whim ;  every  man  becomes  a  law  unto  himself, 
and  this  in  religion  and  morals,  as  everywhere  else,  is 
anarchy,  and  anarchy  is  chaos. 

The  Westminster  theology  stands  prepared  to  present 


254  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

a  solid  front  against  such  error ;  no  other  system  has  the 
inherent  force  to  resist  this  rising  tide  as  the  Westmin- 
ster has;  it  stands,  therefore,  to-day  invested  with  an 
importance  perhaps  transcending  all  present  possible  ap- 
preciation, for  should  this  new  theology  win  the  day 
there  is  danger  that  the  world  may  be  ultimately  orphaned 
of  its  God  as  it  is  fast  being  robbed  of  its  Bible. 

The  part,  then,  that  Calvinistic  theology  must  play  in 
the  needs  of  the  future  is  that  of  a  granite  ledge  against 
the  insidious  encroachments  of  a  troubled  sea  casting  up 
mire  and  dirt;  its  office  is  to  say,  with  the  voice  of  that 
God,  whose  humble  mouth-piece  it  has  been  privileged 
to  prove  in  many  a  stormy  period  of  the  past, 

"Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further:  and  kerf 
shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed." 


KEV.  JOHN   !•.  CANNON.  IJ.   D. 


X. 

THE  INFLUENCE  EXERTED  BY  THE  WESTMINSTER 
SYMBOLS  UPON  THE  INDIVIDUAL,  THE  FAMILY 
AND  SOCIETY. 

BY 

Rev.  JOHN  F.  CANNON,   D.  D., 

PASTOR  OF  THE  GRAND  AVENUE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 


255 


ANALYSIS. 

References  to  Froude  and  Bacon. — The  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits. — The  Westminster  Standards  are  fully  vindicated  by  the 
test  which  time  and  experience  supply. — Two  modes  of  treating 
the  subject  combined. — One  is  the  argument  from  the  doctrines 
of  the  Standards  and  the  constitution  of  man's  nature. — The 
other  is  reasoning  from  the  actual  verdict  of  history. — Both  lines 
concurrent  and  conclusive. — The  Catechisms  meet  the  youthful 
mind  at  a  time  of  life  when  deep  impressions  are  made. — Baxter 
quoted. — The  first  question  of  the  Catechism  strikes  a  high  key. — 
Tbis  high  key  is  kept  up  all  through. — The  divine  sovereignty 
exalted. — The  fearful  nature  of  sin  emphasized. — Salvation  by 
grace  made  clear. — The  security  of  the  believer  established. — His 
glorious  hope  unfolded. — These  doctrines  tend  to  produce  a  strong 
and  elevated  type  of  piety. — The  vStandards  also  gi>ve  a  large 
place  to  distinctively  ethical  teaching. — Half  the  Catechisms, 
almost,  is  ethical  teaching. — The  whole  sphere  of  man's  duty  is 
here  covered. — The  foundation  of  duty  is  made  to  rest  upon  the 
authority  of  God  in  his  word. — Beecher  quoted. — Historj'^  cited 
to  confirm  this. — Many  examples  given. — Huguenots. — Dutch 
Protestants. — Puritans. — Covenanters. — Scotch-Irish. — Even  re- 
jectors of  the  doctrines  of  the  Standards  praise  their  ethics. — 
Their  very  strictness  one  of  their  excellencies. — Conviction  rather 
than  sentiment  controls. — The  effect  on  the  individual  is  good. — 
Cases  quoted. — Courage  produced  by  this  teaching. — Contrast 
with  Arminian  doctrine. — Ireland  used  to  illustrate. — The  Stan- 
dards deal  largely,  also,  with  domestic  and  social  life. — The 
family  made  sacred. — The  covenant  relation  of  parents  made 
plain. — On  this  basis  the  children  are  to  be  trained  for  the  Lord. 
— The  value  of  this  for  the  family  shown. — "The  Cottar's  Satur- 
day Night, "  to  illustrate. — Good  citizens  are  thus  produced. — The 
individual  made  right  and  the  family  held  sacred  have  this 
result. — The  Standards  also  honor  the  Sabbath. — The  sacred  day 
protected. — This  is  of  great  value  to  society  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
— The  family  and  the  Sabbath  are  the  two  Edenic  institutions 
which  the  Standards  exalt  and  protect. — A  solemn  warning 
uttered. — An  earnest  exhortation  given. 

256 


X. 

THE  INFLUENCE  EXERTED  BY  THE  WESTMIN- 
STER SYMBOLS  UPON  THE  INDIVIDUAL,  THE 
FAMILY,   AND  SOCIETY. 


IN  his  celebrated  essay  on  "Calvinism,"  Mr.  Froude 
says  :  ' '  The  practical  effect  of  a  belief  is  the  real  test  of 
its  soundness."  It  is  true  of  creeds,  as  of  men,  that 
they  are  to  be  known  by  their  fruits.  Men  do  not  gather 
grapes  of  thorns,  nor  figs  of  thistles.  "  Every  good  tree 
bringeth  forth  good  fruit;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth 
forth  evil  fruit. ' ' 

There  is  a  most  real  and  vital  connection  between  be- 
lief and  conduct,  between  creed  and  character.  What 
men  believe,  that  they  become.  As  Bacon  says  :  "  Truth 
and  goodness  differ  but  as  the  seal  and  the  print;  for 
truth  prints  goodness."  The  same  may  be  said  of  error 
and  evil.  Evil  in  conduct  and  character  is  ever  the  im- 
print of  error. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  afford  a  sufficient  proba- 
tion for  fairly  testing  a  system  of  religious  doctrine, 
especially  when  that  system  has  been  tried  among  differ- 
ent peoples  and  under  different  social  and  political  condi- 
tions. To-day  we  are  to  inquire  how  the  Standards, 
framed  by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  abide  this  test. 
How  have  the}'  stood  translation  into  real  life  or  incar- 
nation in  living  men  and  women?  Have  their  practical 
effects  been  such  as  to  vindicate  their  right  to  survive 
among  the  creeds  of  Christendom  ?     What  influence  have 

257 


258  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

they  exerted  upon  "the  individual,  the  family,  and 
society, ' '  where  they  have  been  embraced  ?  The  ques- 
tion may  be  answered  in  two  ways  : 

First,  we  may  reason  a  priori  from  the  nature  of  the 
doctrines  set  forth  in  our  Standards,  and  from  what  we 
know  of  human  nature  as  to  the  moral  effects  which  they 
must  produce. 

Or  we  may  appeal  to  history  to  ascertain  what  are  the 
effects  which  they  actually  have  produced.  We  shall 
try  to  combine  these  methods  ;  although  it  will  be  readily 
perceived  that  the  subject  is  too  extensive  to  receive  any- 
thing like  exhaustive  treatment  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  discourse. 

I .  In  the  first  place,  in  order  to  estimate  the  influence 
which  these  sj^mbols  of  faith  exert  over  the  individual 
who  comes  in  contact  with  them,  the  fact  must  be  taken 
into  account  that  they  meet  him  very  early  in  his  career. 

The  Westminster  divines  well  understood  the  neces- 
sity of  training  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go  in 
order  to  insure  against  his  departing  from  it  in  age. 
They  heard  and  heeded  the  risen  Master's  commission 
to  Simon  Peter,  ' '  Feed  my  lambs. ' '  Their  very  best 
work,  in  the  judgment  of  many,  is  found  in  the  provi- 
sion which  they  made  for  the  lambs  of  the  flock. 

Richard  Baxter  is  quoted  as  saying :  "If  the  West- 
minster Assembly  had  done  nothing  more  than  pro- 
duced the  Shorter  Catechism  they  would  be  entitled 
to  the  everlasting  gratitude  of  the  Christian  church." 
He  further  expressed  the  opinion  that,  next  to  the  Bible, 
it  was  probably  the  best  book  in  the  world.  Its  many 
excellencies,  and  its  admirable  adaptation  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  framed,  have  been  well  set  forth  in  a 
preceding  address,  so  that  it  is  needless  for  me  to  en- 
large upon  it. 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  259 

That  Catechism  meets  the  youth  first  of  all  with  the 
significant  question,  "What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?" 
and  the  pregnant  answer,  "  Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify 
God  and  to  enjoy  him  forever. ' '  It  has  been  said  that 
the  first  question  in  each  of  the  most  widely  used  Cate- 
chisms of  Christendom  is  a  key  to  its  character  and  con- 
tents. Of  the  Westminster  Shorter  this  is  unquestion- 
ably true.  Its  opening  question  strikes  the  keynote  of 
the  whole  system  of  doctrine  which  it  unfolds.  God  is 
exalted.  His  sovereign  supremacy  is  asserted ;  he  is  all 
and  in  all ;  his  glor>'  is  the  only  proper  end  both  for  him- 
self and  all  his  creatures ;  he  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the 
creature  ;  the  creature  is  for  his  sake.  As  one  has  said, 
"In  all  place,  in  all  time,  from  eternity  to  eternity,  Cal- 
vinism sees  God." 

Along  with  this  supreme  exaltation  of  God,  the  West- 
minster Standards  inculcate  the  teaching  of  Scripture  as 
to  the  enormity  of  sin,  and  the  hopelessness  and  misery 
of  man's  fallen  estate.  On  this  crucial  question  they  go 
to  the  root  where  truth  and  error  divide.  There  is 
nothing  superficial  or  compromising  in  their  treatment 
of  it.  They  make  no  concession  to  the  pride  of  the 
human  heart.  In  proportion  as  God  is  glorious  and  great, 
the  sin  of  man  is  heinous  and  fatal.  It  is  recreancy  to 
his  supreme  relation  ;  it  separates  him  from  his  God,  and 
hence  leaves  him  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  The 
sinner  is  lost.  Left  to  himself  his  condition  is  one  of 
hopeless  condemnation  and  woe. 

Then  a  salvation  is  revealed  which  is  all  of  grace ;  a 
salvation  which  from  beginning  to  end  is  "of  the  Lord. ' ' 
No  flesh  is  allowed  to  glory  in  his  presence.  No  inch  of 
room  is  left  for  human  boasting.  But  it  is  a  salvation 
which  is  complete.  It  embraces  the  believing  sinner 
in  the  arms  of  unchanging  love.     It  secures  him  by  the 


26o  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

bonds  of  an  everlasting  covenant.  It  gives  him  an  in- 
alienable place  in  the  family  of  God.  It  sets  before  him 
a  hope  which  is  unclouded  by  a  single  doubt.  Now 
the  objection  which  meii  have  urged  against  this  scheme 
of  doctrine  from  the  beginning  until  now  is  that  it  is  un- 
favorable to  holiness  and  morality;  that  it  takes  away 
all  motives  to  godly  and  righteous  living,  and  opens  the 
way  to  licentiousness. 

The  Scriptures  distinctly  refute  the  objection,  and  so 
do  all  history  and  experience.  Grace  is  the  spring  of 
holiness,  and  its  only  spring,  "The  grace  of  God  which 
bringeth  salvation  .  .  .  teaches  us,"  and  it  only  teaches 
the  lesson  effectively,  "that  denying  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lust  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly  in  the  present  world. ' ' 

Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  and  love  is  evoked  by 
grace.  The  only  hope  of  our  emancipation  from  sin, 
according  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  arises  from  the  fact  that 
we  are  "not  under  the  law  but  under  grace."  The  sin- 
ner is  in  no  condition  to  render  acceptable  obedience  or 
devoted  service  until  all  confidence  in  the  flesh  has  been 
completely  shattered,  and  he  has  been  freed  from  every 
vestige  of  legal  bondage,  and  brought  into  the  liberty  of 
grace.  He  is  only  brought  into  this  condition  when  he 
has  been  humbled  and  then  exalted,  smitten,  and  then 
healed  by  the  doctrines  of  grace  which  are  formulated  in 
the  Westminster  Standards.  Hence,  wherever  these 
doctrines  have  been  received  they  have  brought  forth 
the  fruits  of  righteousness.  What  Dr.  Chalmers  said  of 
Scotland  is  true  the  world  over :  ' '  Wherever  there  has 
been  most  Calvinism,  men  have  been  most  moral." 

Another  feature  of  our  Standards  which  deserves  to  be 
noticed  in  this  connection,  as  a  feature  which  makes  for 
righteousness,    is    the   prominence   which   they   give   to 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  261 

ethical  teaching.  They  are  an  exposition  not  only  of 
doctrine  but  of  duty.  They  do  not  treat  only,  as  some 
ignorantly  suppose,  of  dogmas  of  faith.  They  set  forth 
not  only  "what  man  is  to  believe  concerning  God,"  but 
also  "what  duties  God  requires  of  man."  Following 
the  order  of  Holy  Scriptures,  having  laid  a  foundation  of 
doctrine,  they  proceed  to  rear  upon  it  a  superstructure  of 
duty. 

More  than  half  of  each  of  the  Catechisms  is  devoted  to 
ethical  subjects.  The  perpetual  obligation  of  the  moral 
law  is  recognized.  It  is  expounded  precept  by  precept, 
in  the  light  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  with  a 
simplicity,  and  precision,  and  spiritual  insight  which 
have  never  been  surpassed. 

It  is  shown  that  the  life  redeemed  and  directed  by 
grace  is  not  a  lawless  life,  but  is  bounded  and  regulated 
by  the  statutes  of  the  Lord. 

The  whole  sphere  of  human  conduct  is  covered. 
Duty  is  grounded  on  its  only  sure  foundation — divine 
authority.  The  conscience  is  commanded  by  the  only 
voice  to  which  it  owes  obedience,  the  voice  of  God. 
The  heart  is  plied  by  the  only  motives  to  holiness  that 
have  ever  completely  swayed  it,  motives  drawn  from 
the  cross  of  Christ.  Surely,  such  teaching,  when  ac- 
companied by  the  Spirit's  grace,  must  conduce  to  right- 
eousness of  life.  Mr.  Beecher  never  spoke  more  truly 
than  when  he  said  of  Calvinism  :  ' '  There  never  was  a 
system  since  the  world  stood  which  put  upon  man  such 
motives  to  holiness,  or  which  builds  batteries  which 
sweep  the  whole  ground  of  sin  with  such  terrible  artil- 
lery." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  wherever  this  system  of  truth  has 
been  embraced  it  has  produced  a  noble  and  distinct  type 
of  character — a  type  so  clearly  marked  that  secular  his- 


262  The  Wkstminster  Assembly. 

torians,  with  no  religious  bias,  have  recognized  it,  and 
pointed  to  it  as  a  "  remarkable  illustration  of  the  power 
of  religious  training  in  the  formation  of  character. "  We 
see  it  among  the  Huguenots  of  France,  the  Protestant 
Dutch  of  Holland,  the  Puritans  of  England,  the  Cove- 
nanters of  Scotland,  the  Scotch-Irish  of  Ulster,  and  also 
among  the  descendants  of  them  all  in  our  own  country. 
Widely  as  these  people  differ  as  to  race  and  language  and 
national  habits,  there  is  a  strong  family  likeness  between 
them,  a  likeness  which  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  trained  in  a  common  religious  faith. 
And  the  type  of  character  developed  among  them  was  as 
pure  and  noble  as  it  was  distinct.  It  is  safe  to  say  it 
has  never  been  surpassed  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
That  they  had  their  faults  goes  without  saying.  But 
even  their  "failings,"  as  Burns  said  of  his  father's,  were 
such  as  "leaned  to  virtue's  side." 

The  accusations  which  their  opponents  have  made 
against  them  have,  in  most  instances,  been  encomiums. 
They  have  been  criticised  for  being  too  strict  and  un- 
compromising in  their  views  of  life  and  duty.  But  all 
excellence  is  marked  by  strictness.  Strictness  certainly 
characterizes  everything  which  truly  represents  God. 
The  laws  of  nature  are  all  strict ;  the  laws  of  hygiene 
are  strict ;  and  the  life  which  would  secure  their  benedic- 
tion must  be  a  strict  life.  So  with  the  laws  of  morals. 
Like  him  who  ordained  them  they  know  ' '  no  variable- 
ness nor  shadow  of  turning. "  Any  pretended  exposition 
of  the  moral  nature  and  claims  of  God  which  is  character- 
ized by  looseness,  by  that  very  fact  brands  itself  as  false. 
Their  narrowness  has  been  unctuously  deplored.  But 
after  all  is  it  not  the  narrowness  of  truth? 

The  Master  himself  said,  "  Strait  is  the  gate  and  nar- 
row is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  263 

be  that  find  it."  "Narrowness,"  it  has  been  said,  "is 
often  the  badge  of  usefuhiess."  Great  leaders  of  men 
have  been  narrow.  Elijah  was  too  narrow  to  adopt  the 
worship  of  Baal.  Martin  Luther  was  too  narrow  to  in- 
clude in  his  creed  the  errors  of  the  Papacy.  Wesley  was 
too  narrow  to  sympathize  with  the  cold  ritualism  of  his 
age.  William  Carey  was  so  narrow  that  he  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  anti-mission  spirit  of  his  age.  Gideon 
was  so  narrow  that  he  could  not  tolerate  the  idols  in  his 
father's  house,  but  rose  in  his  might  and  tore  them 
down."  The  narrowness  of  Calvinists  has  usually  been 
of  the  same  sort.  One  thing  cannot  be  questioned — the 
adherents  of  this  faith  have  always  been  marked  by 
intelligence.  It  is  a  plain  fact  of  history  that  Calvinism 
and  ignorance  have  never  dwelt  together  in  unity. 
Wherever  they  have  met,  one  or  the  other  has  had  to 
quit  the  field.  They  have  been  men  who  were  possessed 
and  controlled  by  convictions  rather  than  sentiments. 
They  have  believed  something,  and  have  been  ready  to 
stand  for  their  belief  against  all  odds.  They  have  been 
men  in  whom  conscience  was  developed,  who  were  in- 
spired by  a  high  regard  for  right  and  duty.  Stanley, 
the  African  explorer,  giving  his  impressions  of  Living- 
stone and  Mackay,  whose  missionary  work  he  had  ob- 
served in  the  heart,  of  Africa,  expressed  the  opinion  that 
Scotchmen  make  the  best  missionaries  in  the  world; 
and  that  what  gives  them  their  preeminent  qualifications 
for  this  arduous  work  is  their  supreme  devotion  to  duty. 
That  devotion  is  the  legitimate  fruit  of  their  religious 
training. 

Courage  is  another  trait  which  to  a  marked  degree  has 
characterized  such  as  are  moulded  by  this  creed.  It  is 
not  true  that  "conscience  makes  cowards  of  us  all." 
This  is  true  only  of  a  bad  conscience.      A  good  conscience 


264  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

makes  a  man  a  hero.  He  who  walks  in  the  fear  of  God 
is  emancipated  from  lower  fears.  He  who  believes  in  an 
Almighty  Father,  who  has  foreordained  whatsoever 
comes  to  pass,  and  who  through  his  overruling  provi- 
dence is  preserving  and  governing  all  his  creatures,  and 
all  their  actions,  is  made  superior  to  those  experiences  of 
life  which  cause  others  to  quake  and  fear.  Hence,  Ban- 
croft says,  "A  coward  and  a  Puritan  never  went  together." 

And  with  them,  as  always,  the  fear  of  God  has  been 
accompanied  by  a  regard  for  man.  Honesty,  integrity, 
and  all  social  and  domestic  virtues  have  been  developed 
among  them  to  a  degree  that  is  rarely  seen  in  this  selfish 
and  grasping  world.  ' '  Men  may  talk  as  much  as  they 
please,  says  Mr.  Beecher,  "against  the  Calvinists,  Puri- 
tans, and  Presbyterians,  but  you  will  find  that  when  they 
want  to  make  an  investment  they  have  no  objection  to 
Calvinism,  or  Puritanism,  or  Presbyterianism.  They 
know  that  where  these  systems  prevail  their  capital  may 
be  safely  invested." 

In  the  providence  of  God  a  most  significant  object  les- 
son has  been  given  to  the  world  as  to  the  practical  effect 
of  our  Presbyterian  faith,  on  character  in  contrast  with 
the  effect  of  an  antipodal  faith,  the  full-blown  Armi- 
nianism  the  papacy. 

Forty  years  ago  a  German  traveller  in  Ireland  wrote 
that  in  passing  from  Leinster  into  Ulster  he  seemed  to 
have  entered  another  world,  so  great  was  the  contrast. 
That  contrast  still  exists.  In  the  latter,  one  meets  ever>'- 
where  an  intelligent,  industrious,  moral,  and  law-abid- 
ing people.  In  the  former,  he  is  confronted  on  every 
hand  with  ignorance,  and  poverty,  and  lawlessness,  and 
crime.  Thirty  thousand  soldiers  are  quartered  in  Ireland, 
only  three  thousand  of  them  in  Ulster.  Four  times  as 
many  policemen,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  are  re- 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  265 

quired  in  the  south  of  Ireland  as  in  the  north.  There  is 
but  one  explanation  of  the  difference :  the  Ulster  men 
have  been  moulded  by  the  teachings  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  ;  their  southern  neighbors  have  been  moulded 
by  the  decrees  of  the  Vatican,  and  the  Council  of  Trent. 
We  claim,  then,  for  our  venerabfe  creed,  that  whatever 
the  world  may  say  of  it,  it  is  fitted  to  be,  and,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  impartial  history,  has  proved  itself  to 
be  a  character-making  creed. 

2.  But  the  Westminster  Standards  do  not  concern 
themselves  alone  with  the  individual ;  they  take  into  ac- 
count also  his  domestic  and  social  relations.  Green,  the 
English  historian,  says:  "Home,  as  we  conceive  it,  was 
the  creation  of  the  Puritan."  Certain  it  is  that  the  ideal 
Christian  home  has  been  most  nearly  realized  in  those 
places  where  the  influence  of  the  Westminster  Symbols  has 
been  most  dominant.  Nor  is  it  strange.  For,  first,  they 
jealously  guard  the  inviolable  sanctity  of  the  marriage 
bond.  In  an  age  of  intolerable  looseness  they  expounded 
fearlessly  and  without  compromise  the  teaching  of  Holy 
Scripture  as  to  marriage  and  divorces,  and  the  duty  or 
Christians  to  marry  only  in  the  Lord.  It  is  stated  as  a 
historical  fact,  that  ' '  in  all  the  history  of  the  Puritans 
there  is  not  an  example  of  a  divorce."  Thus  they 
cleared  from  its  abuses,  and  set  forth  in  its  original  sanc- 
tity, that  fundamental  relation  of  the  family. 

Again,  they  seized  more  clearly  than  any  other  sym- 
bols of  faith  have  ever  done  the  scriptural  idea  that  the 
family,  rather  than  the  individual,  is  the  unit  upon  which 
the  church  and  society  are  built ;  that  the  farail)^  of  the 
believer  is  included  in  the  provisions  of  God's  covenant 
with  him ;  that  the  children  of  believing  parents  have  a 
place  in  the  visible  church,  and  that  baptism,  instead  of 
being  an  empt}^,  meaningless  ordinance,  to  be  adminis- 


266  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

tered  indiscriminately  to  all  children,  is  the  appointed 
sign  and  seal  of  a  sure  covenant  between  God  and  the 
believing  parent.  The  original  charter  of  the  church 
was,  "I  will  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after 
thee."  Its  New  Testament  form  is,  "Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thy  housed 
The  grace  of  God  has  ever  expressed  itself  through  a  two- 
fold covenant.  It  has  not  been  content  to  offer  life  and  sal- 
vation to  the  individual  believer,  but  has  always  included 
in  its  offer  the  children  whom  God  has  given  him.  No 
smaller  gospel  can  adequately  express  the  exceeding 
riches  of  redeeming  grace ;  no  smaller  gospel  can  per- 
fectly satisfy  the  need  of  the  human  soul.  In  vain  is 
the  message  sent  down  from  heaven  to  the  individual 
believer,  "Say  ye  to  the  righteous,  it  shall  be  well  with 
him."  The  parental  heart  will  send  back  the  anxious 
question,  "Is  it  well  with  the  child?" 

That  deep  yearning  of  the  soul  the  gospel  answers 
with  the  assurance  that  as  we  confidently  commit  our- 
selves, so  may  we  commit  our  children,  into  the  arms  of 
redeeming  love.  This  precious  feature  of  our  holy  reli- 
gion the  Westminster  Standards  clearly  expound,  and  I 
am  not  sure  but  it  is  their  most  distinctive  glory.  Now 
when  this  full  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  is  embraced ; 
when  Jesus  Christ  is  accepted  not  only  as  a  personal 
Saviour,  but  also  as  the  Saviour  of  the  house,  Joshua's 
resolve  becomes  the  natural  response  of  the  heart :  ' '  As 
for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  The 
home  takes  on  the  character  and  shape  of  a  religious 
institution.  It  becomes  a  Bethel.  The  family  altar  is 
reared.  The  rule  by  which  the  household  is  ordered  is 
the  word  of  God.  Hence,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  wherever 
Presbyterianism  has  prevailed,  homes  have  been  found, 
like  the  home  of  Abraham,  characterized  by  two  features, 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  267 

family  disciplhie  and  family  worship.  It  is  no  accident 
that  the  Cottar's  Saturday  Night  was  written  by  a  poet 
trained  under  the  Westminster  Standards,  and  that  its 
scene  is  laid  in  a  land  moulded  by  Presbyterianism.  A 
Scotch  servant-girl  hearing  the  poem  read  before  a  com- 
pany of  admiring  English  people,  naively  said  that  she 
saw  nothing  very  wonderful  about  it,  for  that  was  the 
way  they  did  at  her  father's  house  every  night.  Such 
scenes  are  indigenous  to  Presbyterian  soil ;  and  if  our 
beloved  old  church  ever  loses  her  glory,  it  will  be  when 
the  fires  go  out  on  her  family  altars. 

3.  From  such  homes  as  these  it  is  needless  to  say 
good  citizens  come.  Children  who  have  first  learned  to 
show  their  piety  at  home  naturally  grow  up  to  be  loyal, 
orderly  and  useful  members  of  society.  "What  the  num- 
erous springs  scattered  through  yon  western  mountains 
are  to  your  broad  and  beautiful  Catawba,  such  are  the 
pious  homes  of  a  commonwealth  to  its  social  and  politi- 
cal life.  Hence,  wherever  Presbyterianism  has  been 
planted,  and  has  been  true  to  her  doctrinal  Standards, 
she  has  made  a  distinct  impression  upon  the  face  of 
society.  She  has  never  failed  to  bless  the  state  under 
whose  aegis  she  has  dwelt.  Not  by  intermeddling  in 
its  administration,  or  seeking  to  shape  its  policies,  but  in 
a  more  legitimate  and  more  effective  way  :  by  contribut- 
ing to  the  state,  men  and  women  who  fear  God  and  order 
their  lives  and  homes  according  to  his  word. 

But  the  Westminster  Symbols  have  made  one  contri- 
bution to  the  weal  of  society  which  is  so  notable  as  to 
deserve  specific  mention  ;  that  is,  the  sanctity  with  which 
they  have  invested  the  Sabbath-day.  The  fourth  com- 
mandment is  recognized  as  perpetually  binding,  and  is 
enforced  b^^  the  sanctions  of  Scripture  drawn  both  from 
creation  and  redemption.    No  other  holy  day  is  acknowl- 


268  Thk  Westminster  Assembly. 

edged.  The  Sabbath  alone  is  exalted  as  the  one  holy 
day  of  the  church — set  apart  not  by  human  but  by  divine 
appointment.  The  whole  day,  it  is  taught,  is  to  be 
sanctified  by  a  holy  resting,  and  spent  in  good  works 
and  the  public  and  private  exercises  of  God's  worship. 
Accordingly',  Presbyterians  the  world  over  have  had  no 
more  distinctive  mark  than  this  that  they  have  been  a 
Sabbath-keeping  people. 

Now  the  relation  which  this  sacred  institution  sustains 
to  the  welfare  of  society  is  too  well  understood  to  need 
any  vindication  in  this  presence.  The  Sabbath  law  is 
written  as  distinctly  on  man's  nature  as  it  ever  was  on 
the  table  of  stone.  An  observance  of  it  is  absolutely 
essential  to  his  physical,  moral  and  social  well-being. 
Daniel  Webster  said,  ' '  The  Sabbath  is  the  bulwark  of 
our  liberties,  because  it  is  the  bulwark  of  morality." 
Blackstone  said,  ' '  A  corruption  of  morals  usually  follows 
a  profanation  of  the  Sabbath."  Show  me  a  community 
where  the  Sabbath  is  observed  according  to  the  teachings 
of  our  Standards,  and  I  will  show  you  an  orderly,  law- 
abiding,  and  moral  community.  Show  me  one  where 
the  Sabbath  is  desecrated,  and  I  will  show  you  one  which 
is  a  very  breeding-place  of  anarchy  and  vice  and  crime. 
The  family  and  the  Sabbath!  The  two  institutions  of 
Eden  which  survived  the  wreck  of  the  fall !  They  are 
the  two  strong  supports  of  all  social  order,  the  Jachin 
and  Boaz  upon  which  human  society  rests.  Let  them 
be  disintegrated  and  social  chaos  inevitably  follows. 

These  two  institutions  our  venerable  Standards  exalt 
as  no  others  do.  For  their  maintenance  the  Presbyterian 
Church  has  always  stood.  Fathers  and  brethren  and 
Christian  friends,  they  have  been  handed  down  to  us  as 
a  precious  legacy  from  God-fearing  ancestors.  We  have 
received  them  as  a  high  trust,  to  be  passed  on  in  unim- 


The  Symbols  and  the  Family.  269 

paired  integrity  to  generations  yet  to  come.  Shame  upon 
us  if  they  suffer  loss  in  our  hands !  When  Isaac  so- 
journed in  the  valley  of  Gerar  he  found  that  the  wells 
which  his  father  Abraham  had  digged  and  used  had 
been  stopped  up  by  the  envious  Philistines.  They  were 
no  longer  sources  of  blessing  and  refreshment.  He 
showed  himself  a  worthy  son  of  his  father  by  digging 
them  again,  that  they  might  be  to  him  and  to  his  all  that 
they  had  been  in  his  father's  day.  He  thus  sought  to 
preserve  and  perpetuate  the  good  which  his  father  had 
done.  These  two  springs  of  blessing  have  been  opened 
for  us,  at  unspeakable  cost,  by  hearts  and  hands  long 
stilled  in  death.  We  have  drunk  from  them  and  been 
refreshed.  But  alas  !  the  Philistines  are  at  work  to  close 
them  up  with  the  rubbish  of  earth  and  hinder  their  out- 
flow of  blessing.  There  are  no  institutions  of  our  holy 
religion  which  the  great  enemy  of  all  good  is  attacking 
to-day  with  more  persistent  or  subtle  malignity  and  zeal. 
We  are  threatened  with  the  dire  calamity  of  losing  the 
home  and  the  Sabbath  that  our  forefathers  know. 

Does  not  this  commemorative  occasion  summon  us  by 
every  sacred  and  inspiring  motive  to  rise  up  for  their  de- 
fence, to  open  them  up  afresh  in  all  their  original  fulness 
that  they  may  send  their  sweet  and  purifying  streams 
down  through  the  coming  years  ? 


HON.  WILLIAM   M.  COX,  A.   M. 


XL 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  SYSTEM 
OF  DOCTRINE,  WORSHIP  AND  POLITY  ON 
CIVIL  LIBERTY  AND  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERN- 
MENT. 

BY 

Hon.  WILLIAM  M.  COX,  A.  M., 

RULING  ELDER  IN  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  AT  BALDWYN,    MISS. 


271 


ANALYSIS. 

The  wide  scope  of  the  theme  indicated. — The  Westminster 
system  older  than  the  Standards. — It  is  Calvinism. — Its  two  great 
postulates. — God  holy  and  sovereign,  man  sinful  and  lost. — Re- 
demption founded  in  God's  purpose  of  grace. — The  system  a 
complete  philosophy. — The  mode  of  worship  simple  and  spiritual. 
— Its  system  of  polity  representative. — Christ  the  Head  of  the 
church. — Gradation  of  courts. — A  balanced  system. — It  is  popu- 
lar government  according  to  law. — Calvinism  and  Presb>i:erian- 
ism  have  affinity. — Influence  of  this  doctrine,  worship  and  polity 
great. — It  is  bold  and  positive. — Favors  education. — Solves  prob- 
lems.— Compact  system. — Requires  study. — Develops  noble  char- 
acter.— Reverences  God. — Human  government  rests  on  Divine 
authority. — Noble  citizens  produced. — Unjust  laws  resisted. — 
Anarchy  and  despotism  alike  opposed. — Moral  sense  quickened. 
— Love  of  justice  produced. — Hence  civil  liberty  and  responsible 
government  fostered. — Civil  liberty  defined. — What  it  guaran- 
tees.— Histor}^  shows  what  Calvinism  has  done  for  civil  liberty. — 
Instances  cited. — Presbyterian  polity  aided. — People  trained  to 
self-government  and  for  leadership. — Specific  doctrines  aided.— 
Doctrine  of  sin  humbles  pride. — Absolutism  destroyed. — Predes- 
tination exalts  the  humble.  —  Blind  submission  impossible.  — 
Prince  and  peasant  alike  heirs  of  glory. — Freedom  of  conscience 
has  same  result. — God  supreme. — The  place  and  duty  of  civil 
magistrate. — No  passive  obedience. — Cases  cited  to  illustrate. — 
Calvin's  great  work  discussed. — Its  influence  traced  from  Geneva 
to  Holland  and  Britain. — The  dreadful  conflict. — Fearful  perse- 
cutions.— St.  Bartholomew's  Day. — Louis  XIV. — Huguenots. — 
Philip  II. — The  Netherlands. — William  the  Silent. — Scotland  and 
Knox. — England  and  Cromwell. — The  English  Revolution. — The 
Presbyterians  and  the  Independents. — The  Covenanters. — The 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant. — Persecutions  and  final  triumph 
in  Scotland. — The  American  Revolution  the  culmination. — The 
origin  and  growth  of  the  American  colonies  traced  out. — The 
Puritans  and  the  Scotch-Irish. — The  part  they  played  in  securing 
civil  liberty  and  responsible  government  in  this  country. — The 
Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence. — Bancroft,  Ranke, 
Morley  and  Froude  quoted. — The  verdict  of  history  confirms. 

272 


XL 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  SYS- 
TEM OF  DOCTRINE,  WORSHIP  AND  POLITY 
ON  CIVIL  LIBERTY  AND  RESPONSIBLE  GOV- 
ERNMENT. 


THE  theme  assigned  me  is  a  large  one.  It  will  be 
observed  that  it  is  not  the  influence  of  the  West- 
minster Standards,  but  of  the  Westminster  System  of 
Doctrine,  Worship  and  Polity  on  Civil  Liberty  and  Re- 
sponsible Government  which  I  am  expected  to  discuss 
upon  this  occasion. 

The  system  is  older  than  the  Standards,  and  in  all  its 
essential  features  had  been  formulated  long  before  the 
sitting  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  divines. 

The  Westminster  system  of  doctrine  is,  broadly 
stated,  Calvinism.  It  makes  two  fundamental  postu- 
lates:  God,  a  spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  unchangeable  in 
his  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness 
and  truth ;  man,  a  creature  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
but  fallen  from  his  original  state  of  innocence  and  bless- 
edness into  an  estate  of  sin  and  misery ;  corrupted  by 
sin  throughout  his  entire  nature,  exposed  to  the  penalty 
of  God's  retributive  justice,  and  utterly  and  forever  un- 
able of  himself  to  merit  God's  favor  or  forgiveness. 

Correlated  with  these,  indeed,  flowing  naturally  out  of 
them,  is  God's  gracious  scheme  of  atonement  and  re-, 
demption,  determined  upon  in  the  divine  mind  from  all 
eternity,  and  developed  in  the  fulness  of  time  by  the 
sending  forth  of  the  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  to 

273 


274  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

be  a  mediator  between  God  and  man,  who,  moved  by 
infinite  love  and  compassion,  took  the  place  of  those 
whom  the  Father  had  given  him,  and  satisfied  in  his 
own  person  all  the  demands  of  the  divine  justice  against 
them.  These,  it  holds,  having  been  from  all  eternity 
predestinated  unto  everlasting  life,  are  called  out  of  the 
world,  regenerated  by  God's  Spirit,  justified  by  faith  in 
his  Son,  adopted  into  the  divine  family,  sanctified  by  the 
indwelling  Spirit,  and  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of  God 
against  all  the  wiles  of  the  wicked  one  to  eternal  life. 

Why  God  did  not  elect  to  save  all  men  Calvinism  does 
not  know.  It  only  knows  that  such  was  not  his  sover- 
eign pleasure.  Nor  does  it  know  whj'  he  chose  some 
and  passed  by  others ;  but  it  is  assured  that  it  was  for 
reasons  which  satisfied  the  divine  wisdom  and  the  divine 
goodness,  and  it  is  convinced  that  but  for  this  election 
and  but  for  God's  enabling  grace  all  men  alike  had  per- 
ished, for  that  all  alike  would  have  rejected  God's  graci- 
ous offer  of  mercy  and  life. 

This  system  of  doctrine  is  but  the  philosophic  develop- 
ment in  their  true  relation  and  just  proportion  of  all  the 
teachings  of  Scripture  touching  God  and  man,  and  God's 
relations  to  and  dealings  with  his  creatures.  It  is  but 
the  reduction  to  the  crystalline  form  of  science  of  that 
great  mass  of  truth  contained  in  the  Scriptures  in  the 
fluid  form  of  literature.  If  affords  the  rationale  of  Chris- 
tianity.    It  is  the  science  of  religion. 

The  Westminster  system  of  worship  is  marked  by 
great  simplicity  and  the  almost  entire  absence  of  ceremo- 
nial and  ritual.  It  sets  apart  one  day  in  seven,  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  wholly  to  the  Lord,  to  be  employed 
in  the  private  and  public  exercises  of  religion.  It  assem- 
bles the  people  reverently  in  their  houses  of  worship, 
where  they  attend  with  decorum  and  gravity  while  the 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   275 

Scriptures  are  read  and  expounded  by  an  approved  min- 
ister or  teacher,  and  the  congregation  lead  in  the  singing 
of  hymns  of  praise  to  God  and  the  offering  of  prayer, 
adoring  his  majesty  and  perfections,  thanking  him  for 
his  goodness  and  mercy,  making  confession  of  sin,  and 
suppHcation  for  its  forgiveness,  and  imploring  his  favor 
for  themselves  and  all  mankind.  This  system  lays 
special  emphasis  upon  the  preaching  of  the  word,  hold- 
ing it  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  It  demands 
of  the  minister  thorough  preparation  and  great  diligence 
and  care  that  he  may  rightly  divide  the  word  and  bring 
the  truth  level  with  the  understanding  of  the  most  un- 
learned of  his  hearers.  It  thus  makes  of  preaching  a 
mighty  agency  for  the  education  of  the  people  in  the 
highest  wisdom  and  their  training  in  godliness  and  true 
holiness.  It  permits  to  the  minister  no  assumption  of 
the  priestly  office.  It  allows  no  human  intermediary 
between  the  soul  of  man  and  God.  It  encourages  all  to 
come  into  the  very  presence  of  the  Deity,  to  approach 
with  boldness  the  throne  of  grace,  and  to  worship  God, 
who  is  a  spirit,  in  Spirit  and  in  truth. 

The  Westminster  system  of  polity  is  representative 
republicanism.  It  acknowledges  one,  and  one  only. 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  that  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord ;  and 
it  denies  that  any  king  or  pope  is  his  vicegerent  on 
earth.  It  holds  that  the  people  are,  under  God,  the 
source  of  all  power,  and  that  no  teacher  or  ruler  can  be 
placed  over  them  save  by  their  consent  regularlj'  ex- 
pressed. It  commits  the  government  of  the  individual 
church  to  a  body  of  elders  freely  elected  by  its  members, 
It  groups  a  number  of  contiguous  churches  under  the 
care  of  a  presbytery,  composed  of  the  resident  ministers 
and  the  chosen  representatives  of  the  churches.  All  the 
presbyteries  in  any   state  or  nation  are,    in  their  turn, 


276  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

subject  to  the  supervision  and  control  of  a  General 
Assembly,  composed  of  the  representatives  of  all  the 
presbyteries.  It  thus  provides  a  gradation  of  courts 
from  the  session  to  the  General  Assembly,  all  of  whose 
members  are  upon  a  footing  of  absolute  equality.  It 
secures  local  self-government  in  local  affairs,  and  a  true 
and  efficient  central  authority.  It  avoids  the  unmixed 
despotism  of  a  pope  or  hierarchy  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  looseness  of  congregational  independence  on  the 
other.  It  is  throughout  a  system  of  popular  government 
according  to  law.  It  provides  a  true  authority  resting, 
humanly  speaking,  in  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and 
defined  by  constitutional  limitations  prescribed  by  Christ 
himself,  the  founder  and  Head  of  his  Church. 

There  is  perfect  congruity  between  the  three  systems ; 
while  Calvinism  in  doctrine  may  be  found  in  connection 
with  Prelacy  or  Independency  in  polity,  and  while  Pres- 
byterianism  may  be  joined  with  Arminianism,  and  while 
great  simplicity  and  spirituality  in  worship  may  be,  and 
often  is,  found  out  of  connection  with  either  Calvinism 
or  Presbyterianism,  it  is  yet  true  that  there  is  a  strong 
natural  affinity  between  them,  and  they  have  most  often 
been  found  together.  Each  seems  to  be  in  a  measure  de- 
pendent on  the  others  for  its  own  fulness  and  perfection. 

The  influence  of  this  triple  system  upon  civil  institu- 
tions has  been  manifold  and  great.  Of  necessity  it  could 
not  be  otherwise.  Its  influence,  however,  has  been 
largely  mediate  and  indirect.  It  has  affected  govern- 
ment as  it  has  affected  the  characters,  intellectual  and 
moral,  of  the  peoples  who  live  under  it. 

Calvinism  has  been  the  most  potent  educator  for  the 
masses  which  the  world  has  ever  known.  Nothing  can 
surpass  it  as  a  means  of  mental  culture.  It  cannot  be 
equalled  in  its  capacity  to  stimulate  and  nourish  the  mental 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.  277 

faculties  and  develop  intellectual  power.  It  invites  to 
the  study  of  problems  the  most  abstruse  and  profound 
which  ever  engage  the  minds  of  men.  It  does  not  deal 
in  barren  negations ;  it  is  a  bold,  a  positive  and  fruitful 
philosophy  ;  it  solves  all  mysteries  ;  it  resolves  all  doubts 
touching  nature  and  her  phenomena,  touching  man 
and  his  destiny,  by  its  bold  assumption  of  one  supreme 
and  eternally  inscrutable  mystery.  In  its  doctrine 
of  God,  the  Lord  Jehovah,  maker  and  upholder  of  all 
things,  supreme  and  rightful  ruler  of  the -universe,  who 
knoweth  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  doeth  all 
things  after  the  purpose  of  his  own  sovereign  will,  en- 
dowed by  necessity  with  all  moral  perfections,  and  filled 
with  love  for  his  intelligent  creatures,  it  lays  a  broad 
and  deep  foundation  for  a  true  and  satisfying  philosophy. 
Upon  this  it  builds  by  the  most  severely  logical  pro- 
cesses a  sj^stem  of  truth  closely  knit  and  compacted 
together,  which  solves  the  mystery  of  human  existence 
and  answers  the  perpetual  questionings  of  the  human 
consciousness.  What  am  I?  Whence  am  I?  Whither 
do  I  go?  are  questions  which  have  perplexed  the  minds 
of  the  thoughtful  in  all  time.  They  are  of  everlasting 
human  interest.  They  will  not  down,  but  clamor  for  an 
answer.  Calvinism  answers  them  with  a  fulness  which 
no  other  system  does,  and  to  the  mind  accepting  its  fun- 
damental postulates  the  answer  is  absolutely  conclusive. 
He  who  would  comprehend  this  system  must  gird  up 
the  loins  of  his  mind  for  strenuous  endeavor.  He  has 
undertaken  no  idle  task,  to  be  accomplished  in  an  hour, 
but  one  which  will  tax  to  the  utmost  all  his  powers  of 
thought,  and  afford  exercise  for  a  lifetime  to  all  his 
mental  faculties.  As  a  mere  instrument  of  mental  dis- 
cipline it  cannot  be  surpassed,  for  it  lays  under  contribu- 
tion all  literature,  all  science,  all  philosophy ;  and,  dealing 


278  The  Westminster  Assembly, 

with  the  most  difficult  and  pressing  problems  that  pre- 
sent themselves  to  human  thought,  it  resolves  them  by 
showing  their  relation  to  its  great  fundamental  assump- 
tion .  Wherever  it  has  been  wisely  and  generally  taught 
it  has  mightily  stimulated  thought  among  the  people  and 
developed  among  them  a  high  order  of  intellectual  power. 
But  it  not  only  developes  intellectual  power,  for  it  also 
begets  mental  poise  and  balance  and  conduces  to  intel- 
lectual repose.  He  who  accepting  its  great  regulative 
principles  has  traced  them  out  to  all  which  they  logically 
involve  can  no  longer  be  agitated  by  intellectual  doubts 
and  fears.  The  riddle  of  the  universe  for  him  has  been 
solved.  The  mystery  of  his  own  being  has  been  made 
plain.     Chaos  has  become  Cosmos. 

The  universe  is  seen  to  be  the  work  of  a  supreme  in- 
telligence, and  its  moral  government  forever  established. 
The  distinction  between  good  and  evil,  between  right 
and  wrong,  between  holiness  and  sin,  is  seen  to  be  funda- 
mental and  everlasting,  and  the  ultimate  triumph  of  right 
inevitable.  He  who  has  reached  these  conclusions  is  no 
longer  the  sport  of  error  and  false  doctrine.  He  is  no 
more  like  a  wave  of  the  sea  driven  with  the  wind  and 
tossed.  But  his  convictions  are  established  upon  a  rock, 
and  he  can  exclaim,  ' '  My  mind  is  fixed,  O  Lord,  my  mind 
is  fixed."  But  great  as  have  been  its  effects  in  develop- 
ing intellectual  power  and  stability,  its  influence  upon 
moral  character  has  been  even  greater.  There  is  a 
subtle  law  of  our  spiritual  natures  by  which  we  become 
assimilated  to  our  thoughts,  "As  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
heart  so  is  he." 

Our  opinions,  true  or  false,  mightily  influence  our  con- 
duct and  character.  Especially  is  this  true  when  men 
heartily  receive  and  hospitably  entertain  a  great  system 
of  truth  dealing  with  matters  of  supremest  moment  and 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.  279 

interest,  and  having  for  its  chief  end  the  determination 
of  conduct  in  the  highest  concerns  of  life.  If,  now,  this 
system  be  a  revelation  of  himself,  his  will  and  purposes 
by  the  supreme  intelligence,  and  be  applied  to  the  mind 
and  heart  by  his  enlightening  Spirit,  it  becomes  a  con- 
trolling and  transforming  power  in  character  and  life. 

Calvinists  have  always  been  noted  for  certain  great 
traits  which  may  be  taken  as  the  natural  fruitage  of  the 
system.  Chief  among  them  is  a  profound  reverence  for 
God  and  his  authority,  a  profound  conviction  that  he  and 
he  only  is  to  be  feared  and  obeyed.  And  as  under  this 
system  all  rightful  human  authority  must  be  derived 
from  and  must  rest  ultimately  upon  God's  sovereign  au- 
thority, and  as  obedience  to  all  rightful  human  authority 
is  obedience  to  God  himself,  this  supreme  reverence  for 
God  is  accomplished  by  a  spirit  of  obedience  to  all  just 
human  authority  and  all  righteous  human  law.  This 
spirit  of  obedience  to  rightful  authority  has  marked  the 
Calvinistic  peoples  in  their  civil  relations  in  every  age 
and  country,  and  has  made  of  them  orderly  and  law- 
abiding  citizens  in  every  just  government  under  which 
they  have  lived.  But  this  supreme  reverence  for  God 
and  supreme  allegiance  to  his  authority  begets  a  spirit  of  , 
instinctive  resistance  to  all  unjust  authority  and  all  un-  ' 
righteous  law.  These  are  recognized  as  usurpations, 
which  it  is  a  duty  to  God  to  resist  and  put  down.  And 
so  Calvinism  opposes  its  adherents  in  their  fundamental 
characteristics  to  anarchy  and  the  license  of  the  mob  on 
the  one  hand,  and  to  the  autocratic  misrule  of  a  despot 
on  the  other. 

With  this  reverence  for  God  and  his  authority  there 
goes  ever  a  keen  appreciation  of  moral  distinctions  and 
an  abiding  consciousness  of  human  guilt,  weakness,  and 
imperfections.     Truth,  justice,    right,    perfect  holiness, 


28o  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

are  felt  to  be  of  everlasting  obligation,  and  absolute  per- 
fection the  only  worthy  end  of  human  effort. 

The  Calvinistic  standard  of  human  character  is  a  high 
one,  so  high,  indeed,  as  to  be  recognized  at  once  as  im- 
possible of  attainment  in  this  life  and  under  present  con- 
ditions. But  it  challenges  to  an  unending  struggle  with 
the  selfish  and  lawless  appetites  and  professions  of  our 
fallen  natures,  and  affords  the  strongest  possible  incen- 
tives to  strenuous  endeavor  after  moral  excellence.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  claim  that  the  Calvinistic  peoples  have 
been  marked  by  a  love  of  truth  and  justice,  a  devotion  to 
duty,  an  unswerving  allegiance  to  right,  a  personal  up- 
rightness and  purity  of  character,  not  surpassed  by  the 
adherents  of  any  other  creed  or  system.  We  may  with 
confidence  maintain  that  the  world  has  never  known  a 
higher  type  of  stalwart  manhood,  nor  a  gentler,  purer, 
or  more  lovable  womanhood  than  have  prevailed  among 
those  peoples  into  whose  hearts  and  life  has  entered  this 
Calvinistic  creed,  with  its  commingled  elements  of  granitic 
strength  and  stability,  and  of  supreme,  because  divine^ 
tenderness  and  grace. 

It  can  be  seen,  then,  that  Calvinism  has  made  a  most 
important  contribution  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  and 
responsible  government,  by  developing  in  the  peoples  to 
whom  it  has  been  both  a  creed  and  a  life-power  those 
intellectual  and  moral  qualities  without  which  civil  lib- 
erty and  responsible  government  were  forever  impossi- 
ble. No  people  can  ever  have  a  better  government  than 
they  deserve ;  no  people  can  ever  achieve  and  enjoy  civil 
liberty  until  they  have  learned  that  it  does  not  mean  un- 
bridled license.  Civil  liberty  is  liberty  regulated  by  law. 
It  guarantees  to  every  citizen  the  full  enjoyment  of  all 
just  rights  and  privileges,  conditioned  upon  his  own  re- 
cognition and  observance  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.  281 

others.  It  presupposes  a  high  degree  of  popular  intelli- 
gence, and  a  general  spirit  of  obedience  to  law. 

Until  these  have  been  attained,  the  most  perfect  con- 
stitution of  government  the  genius  of  man  could  possibly 
devise,  it  matters  not  how  liberal  it  might  be  in  theory, 
would  prove  worthless  in  practice,  and  though  the  forms 
of  freedom  might  be  preserved,  would  result  in  despotism 
and  oppression. 

It  is  a  most  notable  fact  in  this  connection  that  those 
nations,  which  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centu- 
ries, that  crucial  epoch  in  the  liberty  of  free  institutions, 
made  the  most  determined  struggle  against  absolutism 
in  church  and  state,  and  for  civil  and  religious  freedom, 
were  precisely  those  which  had  been  brought  most  fully 
under  the  training  and  discipline  of  Calvinism. 

The  freest  people  in  the  world  to-day  must  trace  their 
institutions  back  through  the  England,  the  Scotland,  the 
Netherlands,  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
to  the  Geneva  of  Calvin  ;  and  the  England,  the  Scotland, 
the  Netherlands  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centu- 
ries were  to  their  heart's  core  intensely  Calvinistic. 
They  won  civil  liberty  and  established  responsible  gov- 
ernments because  Calvinism  had  made  them  desire  to  be 
free,  and  had  fitted  them  to  achieve  and  enjoy  freedom. 

The  Presbyterian  polity  also  contributed  largely  ta 
this  end.  It  furnished  the  people  in  their  ecclesiastical 
affairs  a  pure  type  of  representative  republicanism.  It 
habituated  them  to  self-government.  It  trained  them  to 
self-restraint.  It  taught  them  independence  and  self- 
reliance.  It  developed  among  them  a  capacity  for  leader- 
ship, and  a  power  of  command  which  served  them  equally 
well  when  applied  to  affairs  of  state.  It  furnished  a  sys- 
tem equally  as  well  adapted  to  the  state  as  to  the  church. 
It  stimulated  in  them  a  desire  for  civil  liberty.      No  peo- 


282  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

pie  accustomed  to  govern  themselves  in  one  sphere  could 
ever  become  reconciled  to  an  unmixed  despotism  in  the 
other. 

There  are,  however,  certain  specific  teachings  of  Cal- 
vinism which  have  had  a  more  direct  influence  than  those 
just  mentioned  upon  civil  government,  and  which  in  the 
long  and  desperate  struggle  which  raged  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  between  absolutism  and  free- 
dom, played  an  indispensable  part. 

Its  doctrine  of  sin  and  depravity  has  been  the  greatest 
of  all  levellers.  It  includes  all  men  under  sin,  from  the 
slave  in  his  hovel  to  the  king  on  his  throne.  No  rank 
or  station,  however  exalted,  can  exempt  from  this  uni- 
versal condition.  All  men  alike,  the  high  and  the  low, 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  the 
noble  and  the  base  born,  are  involved  in  the  same  guilt, 
share  the  same  depravity,  are  exposed  to  the  same  con- 
demnation. In  the  light  of  this  tremendous  fact  all 
earthly  distinctions  disappear,  and  the  privileges  of  birth 
and  caste  are  seen  to  be  without  adequate  foundation. 
The  pretensions  of  the  high  born  to  an  innate  superiority 
and  consequent  right  to  lord  it  over  the  masses  are  dissi- 
pated, and  the  pride  of  the  great  is  humbled  into  the 
dust.  The  spell  of  their  greatness  is  broken,  and  the 
meanest  peasant  can  see  and  feel  that  the  mightiest  noble, 
or  even  the  king  himself,  is,  after  all,  barring  the  acci- 
dents of  birth  and  fortune,  but  a  man  like  himself.  All 
men  are  seen  to  be  equal  in  the  sight  of  God  and  before 
his  righteous  law,  all  men  are  seen  to  owe  to  God  su- 
preme allegiance,  and  to  all  men  alike  it  is  seen  that  the 
same  offer  of  mercy  is  made  upon  the  same  conditions. 

The  inference  is  easy,  that  if  all  men  are  equal  before 
the  law  of  God,  they  should  also  be  recognized  as  equals 
by  the   law  of   man.      Hence,  there  emerges   clearly  to 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   2S3 

view  the  great  axiom  of  modern  democracy,  that  all 
men  are  created  equal  and  vested  with  certain  inalien- 
able rights.  This  principle,  properly  limited,  is  Calvin's 
rather  than  Jefferson's. 

But  if  its  doctrine  of  sin  abased  the  pride  and  hum- 
bled the  pretensions  of  the  great,  its  doctrine  of  predes- 
tination exalted  the  lowly.  To  the  arrogance  and  pride 
which  went  with  earthlj^  power,  the  simple  peasant,  con- 
scious within  himself  of  his  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus,  could  oppose  a  yet  higher  pride.  -^  "Though  his 
name  did  not  appear  in  the  register  of  heralds,  it  was 
recorded  in  the  book  of  life."  Though  unknown  among 
men  beyond  the  limits  of  his  lord's  estate,  he  was  known 
in  the  councils  of  heaven.  His  name  was  among  those 
whom  the  Father  from  all  eternity  had  given  to  the  Son 
in  an  everlasting  covenant.  He  had  been  bought  with  a 
great  price,  had  been  saved  with  a  great  salvation ;  for 
in  his  stead  the  Prince  of  Glory  had  died  upon  the  tree. 
Though  base  born,  he  yet  shared  the  highest  royalty. 
Though  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  yet  all  things  were 
his.  He  felt  himself  to  be  an  heir  of  God  and  a  joint- 
heir  with  Jesus  Christ.  God  himself  had  made  him  free, 
and  it  was  not  within  the  province  of  earthly  power  to 
make  him  a  slave.  And  he  knew  that  it  "had  not  pleased 
God  to  call  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many 
mighty,  not  manj-  noble;  but  that  God  had  chosen  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,  and 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  that  were  despised 
had  God  chosen ;  yea,  and  things  which  were  not,  to 
bring  to  naught  the  things  which  were."  And  all  whom 
God  had  chosen  were  equals  and  brethren,  and  if  any 
w^ould  be  great  a^nong  them,  he  must  become  the  ser- 
vant of  all. 


284  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

This  conviction  stimulated  in  those  who  cherished  it  a 
feeling  of  pride  and  a  sense  of  dignity  and  worth  which 
upheld  and  sustained  them  under  the  scorn  and  contempt 
of  their  earthly  superiors,  and  enabled  them,  when  occa- 
sion demanded,  to  outface  the  pride  of  nobles  and  kings. 
It  transformed  the  hind  into  a  man  and  a  hero,  and, 
when  the  days  of  fierce  fighting  came,  it  filled  the  armies 
of  Conde,  of  William  the  Silent  and  of  Cromwell  with 
yeomen,  artisans  and  shop-keepers  fit  to  stand  against 
the  chivalry  of  Europe. 

Another  principle  of  Calvinism  which  has  made  an 
important  contribution  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  is  its 
teaching  concerning  freedom  of  conscience,  that  "God 
only  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from 
the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in 
anything  contrary  to  his  word  or  beside  it  in  faith  or 
worship."  This  is  involved  in  the  entire  Calvinistic  con- 
ception of  man  in  his  relations  with  God.  It  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  Calvinism.  It  is  a  principle  which  is 
utterly  subversive  of  the  spiritual  over-lordship  of  Pope 
and  hierarchy  and  of  all  pretensions  upon  the  part  of  the 
civil  power  to  control  the  subject  in  matters  of  religion. 

In  its  logical  outcome  it  limits  the  authority  of  the 
state  strictly  to  matters  secular,  and  leads  inevitably  to 
the  entire  independence  and  separation  of  church  and 
state. 

Intimately  connected  with  its  teaching  concerning 
freedom  of  conscience  is  its  doctrine  of  the  civil  magis- 
trate. It  holds  that  he  is  a  minister  of  God  ordained  to 
be  under  him  over  the  people  for  God's  glory  and  the 
public  good,  that  he  is  armed  with  the  power  of  the 
sword  for  the  defence  &nd  encouragement  of  them  that 
are  good  and  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  that  he 
is  to  be  obeyed  in  all  his  lawful  commands.     There  is  a 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.    285 

vast  deal  contained  in  that  last  clause.  It  places  a  sharp 
limitation  upon  the  duty  of  the  subject  to  the  ruler,  and 
saps  the  very  foundation  of  absolutism.  If  the  civil 
magistrate  is  to  be  obeyed  in  his  lawful  commands,  he  is 
to  be  disobeyed  in  those  which  are  unrighteous  and  un- 
lawful and  contrary  to  God's  law  of  right  and  truth. 
Calvinism  is  perfectly  consistent  with  itself  and  the 
Avritten  word  in  holding  that  we  ought  to  obey  God 
rather  than  man. 

Calvinists  have  never  held  the  craven  doctrine  of  pas- 
sive obedience.  The  Reformed  or  Calvinistic  churches 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  stood  practi- 
cally alone  in  teaching  that  tyrants  were  usurpers  and 
were  to  be  resisted  and  deposed.  Luther  himself  coun- 
seled non-resistance  to  tyranny,  declaring  that  a  wicked 
tyrant  was  better  than  a  wicked  war.  The  prelates  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  when  the  liberties  of  Britain  and 
the  world  were  trembling  in  the  balance,  prostrated 
themselves  at  the  feet  of  a  wicked  tyrant,  proclaimed  to 
the  world  that  he  could  do  no  wrong,  and  exhorted  the 
people  to  submit  while  their  ancient  liberties  were  tramp- 
led in  the  dust,  the  constitution  of  their  countrj^  sub- 
verted, and  themselves  subjected  to  the  irresponsible 
power  of  a  corrupt,  ruthless  despotism. 

But  Calvinism  proclaimed  resistance  to  tyrants  to  be 
obedience  to  God.  It  nerved  the  people  to  undjdng  op- 
position to  absolutism  in  church  and  state,  and  trans- 
formed a  simple  peasantrj^  into  the  most  magnificent 
fighting  force  in  Christendom. 

When  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  human  intellect, 
roused  by  the  renascence  of  the  ancient  learning  from 
the  torpor  of  centuries,  and  freed  from  the  shackles  of 
superstition,  began  to  devote  itself  to  the  earnest  and 
reverent  study  of  God's  word,  especially  when  the  truths 


286  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

of  that  word  loosely  scattered  upon  its  surface  were  by 
the  transcendent  genius  of  Calvin  gathered  up  and 
wrought  into  a  system,  at  once  the  true  science  of  reli- 
gion and  the  highest  and  most  faithful  philosophy  ever 
promulgated  among  men,  the  seeds  of  revolution  were 
scattered  broadcast  over  Europe.  Again  was  to  be  veri- 
fied the  saying  of  the  Master,  that  he  had  not  come  to 
send  peace  on  earth  but  a  sword. 

While  the  system  dealt  chiefly  with  the  relations  of 
men  to  God,  it  involved  also  incidentally  their  relations 
to  each  other.  While  concerned  chiefly  with  the  life  to 
come,  it  did  not  disdain  to  teach  men  their  rights  in  the 
life  which  now  is. 

In  common  with  all  Protestantism  it  was  a  revolt 
against  spiritual  sovereignties,  but  it  went  further  and  in 
its  essential  principles  assailed  the  foundations  of  all 
despotism,  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical.  Radiating 
from  Geneva,  it  spread  rapidly  over  Central  and  Western 
Europe  and  the  British  Islands.  Wherever  it  obtained 
a  foothold  it  roused  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  civil  despot- 
ism, as  well  as  ecclesiastical  domination.  No  more 
radical  system  had  ever  been  promulgated,  nor  one  more 
fitted  to  stir  society  as  then  constituted  from  centre  to 
circumference.  It  struck  at  the  root  of  all  errors,  whether 
in  the  church  or  state.  It  was  at  once  instinctively  re- 
cognized as  the  natural  enemy  of  all  irresponsible  power ; 
and  it  was  perceived  by  princes  and  prelates  alike  that, 
if  permitted  to  run  unchecked,  the  world's  dynasties  and 
hierarchies  were  doomed,  and  that  Europe  must  soon 
pass  from  the  domination  of  kings  and  popes  to  a  gov- 
ernment in  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people. 

This  would  have  been  a  blessed  consummation,  but 
the  powers  of  darkness  were  all  roused  to  prevent  it,  and 


Thk  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.  287 

in  their  furious  onslaught  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  and 
human  progress  was  held  back  for  generations,  and 
throughout  the  larger  and  fairer  parts  of  Europe  either 
hopelessly  checked  or  grievously  wounded  and  distorted. 

There  is  nothing  in  human  annals  of  more  surpassing 
interest  than  the  united  struggle  of  the  papacy  and  the 
great  Catholic  monarchs  to  beat  back  and  stamp  out  the 
flaming  truths  of  Calvinism,  and  to  overwhelm  and  ex- 
terminate its  adherents.  The  fires  of  the  Inquisition 
prevented  its  ever  getting  a  firm  footing  in  Italy  or 
Spain.  It  was  soon  throttled  in  Belgium,  in  Bavaria, 
in  Bohemia,  Austria,  and  Poland.  It  struggled  long 
and  desperately  in  France.  The  Calvinists  of  that 
country  struggled  for  decades  with  what  seemed  an  un- 
conquerable courage  to  vindicate  their  right  to  hve  as 
freemen  and  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  own  consciences.  They  poured  out  their  blood 
like  water. 

"It  has  been  reckoned,"  says  Jonathan  Edwards, 
"that  about  this  time  within  thirty  years  there  were 
martyred  in  this  kingdom,  for  the  Protestant  religion, 
thirty -nine  princes,  one  hundred  and  forty -eight  counts, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-four  barons,  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighteen  gentle- 
men, and  seven  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  of  the  com- 
mon people."  What  a  holocaust  of  victims!  What  a 
contribution  upon  the  part  of  Presbyterians  and  Calvin- 
ists of  martyrs  to  civil  liberty  and  freedom  of  conscience. 
In  one  day,  the  never-to-be-forgotten  24th  day  of  August, 
1572,  upon  signal  given  by  the  cathedral  bell,  there 
were  butchered  in  cold  blood  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children  by  the  minions  of  the  Pope  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  king.  This  terrible  atrocity  was 
deemed  worthy  by  the  Pope  of  special  commemoration  by 


288  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

the  striking  of  a  medal  and  services  of  thanksgiving  in  the 
churches  of  Rome.  But  it  needed  no  special  commemora- 
tion. The  friends  of  human  rights  will  never  let  it  be  for- 
gotten. The  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  will  stand  while 
men  love  justice  and  right  and  freedom  of  thought  and  of 
conscience,  as  the  monumental  crime  against  the  rights  of 
humanity.  It  is  a  damned  spot  which  all  great  Nep- 
tune's ocean  could  never  wash  out.  It  is  a  flaming 
beacon  light  to  warn  all  the  generations  of  the  future. 

But  the  odds  against  the  Calvinists  were  too  great. 
They  were  conquered,  but  for  a  time  were  not  utterly 
destroyed.  Some  measure  of  toleration  was  extended 
them  until  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
formally  suppressed  the  reformed  religion,  and  banished 
every  Protestant  pastor  from  the  realm.  This  blow 
practically  destroyed  the  Reformed  Church  in  France. 
It  was  followed  by  an  enormous  emigration  of  the 
Huguenots  to  the  immense  gain  of  every  country  which 
received  them,  but  to  the  everlasting  undoing  of  France. 
She  has  never  recovered,  can  never  recover,  from  the  loss 
of  their  piety,  their  pure  morality,  their  stability  and 
strength  of  character,  their  patriotism,  their  aptness  for 
all  the  arts  of  peace  and  war.  In  her  madness,  she  had 
thrust  out  her  best.  France  has  been  ever  since  like  a 
ship  without  ballast,  wallowing  in  the  waves,  which 
ever  and  anon  threaten  to  engulf  her.  After  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  Terror,  after  her  wild  dreams  of  conquest, 
after  her  overthrow  and  humiliation  by  her  ancient 
enemy,  she  again  has  peace.  She  has  also  the  forms, 
but  she  lacks  the  genius  and  spirit  of  freedom.  She  is 
passing  from  the  first  place  in  Europe  to  one  of  compara- 
tive imbecility,  while  her  place  is  taken  by  a  nation  of 
purer  faith  and  sterner  morals. 

Cotemporary  with  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   289 

in  France  was  the  effort  of  Philip  II.,  head  of  the  Austro- 
Spanish  monarchy,  to  suppress  the  reformed  reUgion  in 
the  Netherlands.     This  brave,  enterprising,  and  intelli- 
gent people  had  early  received  the  Calvinistic  system  in 
its  entirety.     They    speedily   renounced   their  spiritual 
subordination  to  the  Pope  and  sympathized  deeply  with 
their  co-religionists  in  other  countries  in  their  efforts  to 
win  freedom  of  conscience  and  worship.      But  they  were 
not  to  be  permitted  to  enjoy  this  sight  themselves  with- 
out first  passing  through  the  fires  of  a  persecution  unsur- 
passed in  atrocity,  and  waging  a  defensive  warfare  for 
decades  not  less  desperate,  but  in  the  end  more  fortunate 
than  that  of  the   Huguenots.    'Philip,  w^ho  was  a  most 
bigoted  Catholic,  had  made  it  the  purpose  of  his  hfe  to 
destroy  Protestantism  and  dragoon  the  peoples  of  Europe 
back  into  spiritual  dependence  upon  Rome,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  utterly  destroyed  all  their  aspirations  for 
civil  liberty.     He  sent  against  the  brave  Hollanders  not 
only  the  best  equipped  and  most  veteran  troops  in  Europe, 
but  also  the  most  experienced  and  skilful  generals  then 
living.     He  employed  in  his  crusade  against  the  schis- 
matics  not  only  all  the  arts  of  honorable  warfare,  but 
also  the  axe  of  the  executioner,  the  knife  of  the  assassin 
and  the  torch  of  the  incendiary.     The  brutality,  the  lust, 
the  terrible  atrocity  of  the  Spaniards  upon  the  taking  and 
sacking  of  towns  and  cities  had  passed  into  history  under 
the  name  of  the  Spanish  Terror.     The  cruel  Alva  boasted 
that  besides  the  multitudes  slain  in  battle  he  had  com- 
mitted eighteen   thousand  to  the   executioner,    and  this 
because  they  feared  God  more  than  they  feared  Philip, 
and  preferred  to  die  rather  than  to  play  traitors  to  the 
truth.     The  brave  Hollanders,  under  their  great  stadt- 
holder,  William   the   Silent,  struggled  on  amid  terrible 
reverses  till  Leyden  alone  of  their  principal  cities  held 


290  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

out.  This  city  was  closely  invested  and  was  near  its 
fall,  and  when  Leyden  should  fall  the  good  cause  would 
be  irretrievably  lost.  In  this  dire  extremity  their  spirit 
equalled  their  peril.  They  resolved  to  invoke  the  aid  of 
the  elements.  They  cut  the  dykes  which  held  back  the 
North  Sea.  A  mighty  tempest  from  the  northwest  rolled 
in  the  raging  waters  and  Leyden  was  saved.  They 
saved  their  freedom  though  they  drowned  their  land; 
and  under  the  princes  of  the  House  of  Orange  they  built 
up  a  great  Protestant  commonwealth  which  long  served 
as  a  mighty  bulwark  against  all  the  aggressions  of  abso- 
lutism, and  furnished  an  asylum  to  fugitives  from  reli- 
gious persecution  from  all  the  countries  of  Europe. 
They  eventually  furnished  the  prince  under  whom  the 
liberties  of  the  British  people  were  firmly  secured. 

While  these  things  were  happening  upon  the  conti- 
nent a  work  was  being  done  across  the  channel  in  Scot- 
land, which  has  made  of  her  an  inspiration  to  the  lovers 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom  the  world  over,  and  has 
borne  most  notable  fruit  for  these  three  centuries.  John 
Knox,  the  third  of  the  great  triumvirate  of  reformers, 
after  a  season  spent  at  Geneva,  where  he  had  enjoyed  the 
tuition  of  Calvin  had  mastered  his  system  and  caught  his 
spirit,  returned  to  his  native  land.  He  labored  diligently 
and  fearlessly  for  the  spread  of  the  truth,  and  with  so 
much  success  that  Scotland  was  won  for  the  Reformed 
faith  and  Presbyterianism  fully  established.  So  tho- 
roughly was  the  work  done  that  three  centuries  and  i 
more  have  not  been  able  to  undo  it,  and  the  consequent 
change  in  Scottish  character  and  life  was  so  great  as  to 
have  been  likened  to  a  resurrection  from  death.  But  let 
Carlyle  speak,  "In  the  history  of  Scotland,  too,  I  can 
find  properly  but  one  epoch.  We  may  say  that  it  con- 
tains nothing  of  world  interest  at  all  but  this  Reformation 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   291 

by  Knox.  A  poor  barren  country,  full  of  continual 
broils,  dissensions,  massacrings.  Bravery  enough,  no 
doubt,  fierce  fighting  in  abundance,  but  not  braver  nor 
fiercer  than  that  of  their  old  Scandinavian  sea-king  an- 
cestor— a  country  in  the  last  stage  of  rudeness  and  desti- 
tution nothing  developed  in  it  but  what  was  rude, 
external,  semi-animal — and  now  at  the  Reformation  the 
internal  life  was  kindled  under  the  ribs  of  this  outward 
material  death.  This  that  Knox  did  for  his  nation  we 
may  really  call  a  resurrection  from  death.  The  Puri- 
tanism of  Scotland  became  that  of  England,  of  New 
England. 

"A  tumult  in  the  High  Church  at  Edinburgh  spread 
into  universal  battle  and  struggle  over  all  these  realms. 
After  fifty  years  struggling  there  came  out  what  we 
call  the  glorious  revolution,  habeas  corp2is  act,  free  par- 
liaments, and  much  else.  Alas,  is  it  not  too  true  what 
we  said  that  many  men  in  the  van  do  always  like  Rus- 
sian soldiers  march  into  the  ditch  at  Schwiedmitz  and 
fill  it  with  their  dead  bodies,  that  the  rear  may  pass  over 
them  dry-shod  and  gain  the  honor. 

"How  many  earnest,  rugged  Cromwells,  Knoxes,  poor 
peasant  Covenanters,  wrestling,  battling  for  very  life  in 
rough,  miry  places,  have  to  suffer,  and  struggle,  and  fall, 
greatl}^  censured,  bemired,  before  a  beautiful  revolution  of 
eighty-eight  can  step  over  them  in  oflBcial  pumps  and  silk 
stockings,  with  universal  three  times  three." 

Presbyterianism  in  Scotland  was  one  of  the  chief  fac- 
tors in  vindicating  the  liberties  of  the  British  people.  It 
has  always  been  obnoxious  to  the  Stuart  dynasty,  who 
regarded  it  as  inimical  to  monarchy.  "Presbytery," 
said  James  I.,  "doth  consist  with  monarchy  as  well  as 
God  with  the  devil."  The  attempt  to  suppress  it  in  the 
interest   of   prelacy    precipitated    the   civil    war,    which 


292  The  Wkstminster  Asse.-mbly. 

ended  as  all  know  in  the  overthrow  of  the  king  and  his 
execution  by  Parliament  for  treason  against  the  laws  and 
liberties  of  England. 

This  great  struggle  was  upon  the  part  of  Parliament  a 
war  by  the  Calvinists  of  Scotland  and  England  against 
absolutism  in  church  and  state,  and  for  civil  and  religous 
freedom.  For  whatever  the  names  by  which  the  adhe- 
rents of  Parliament  were  known,  whatever  their  views 
upon  church  polity,  they  were  at  one  upon  doctrine,  and 
were  strongly  Calvinistic.  That  this  is  true  is  amply 
verified  by  the  Westminster  Standards,  promulgated  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  Long  Parliament,  which  we  this 
day  celebrate. 

This  is  not  the  occasion  to  discuss  the  differences 
which  sprung  up  between  the  Presbyterians  and  Inde- 
pendents. It  can  never  be  known  whether  had  the  views 
and  plans  of  the  former  prevailed,  England  would  have 
had  as  the  immediate  result  of  the  war  a  limited  monar- 
chy, with  ample  guarantee  for  the  liberties  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  Revolution  of  1688  been  anticipated  for  more 
than  a  generation.  But  it  is  evident  that  such  was  their 
hope  and  purpose. 

The  Independents,  however,  triumphed  through  the 
genius  of  Cromwell,  who  for  some  years,  as  Lord  Protec- 
tor gave  to  England  a  government  of  great  power,  vigor, 
and  wisdom,  but  which  was  after  all  as  thorough-going 
a  despotism  as  that  which  Charles  I.  lost  life  and  crown 
in  seeking  to  establish.  The  restoration  of  Charles  II.  > 
after  the  death  of  Cromwell,  and  consequent  overthrow 
of  the  commonwealth,  was  for  the  time  the  utter  undoing 
of  all  for  which  the  Puritans  had  fought,  and  introduced  a 
worse  despotism  than  that  of  Charles  I.  The  Presbyte- 
rians, especially,  felt  the  utmost  severity  of  the  royal 
displeasure. 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   293 

The  Stuarts,  though  a  Scottish  house,  had  always 
hated  and  feared  the  Scottish  kirk,  and  now  for  twenty- 
eight  years  Charles,  and  afterward  his  brother  James, 
exhausted  every  resource  of  craft  and  power  to  break  the 
spirit  of  the  Scottish  people,  destroy  their  national  church, 
and  root  out  the  last  vestige  of  Presbyterianism  from  the 
realm. 

The  patient  endurance,  the  inflexible  resolution,  the 
unshaken  constancy,  the  heroic  devotion  of  the  Presby- 
terians of  Scotland  under  this  fiery  ordeal"  constitute  one 
of  the  marvels  of  history. 

All  Scotland  was  reddened  with  blood.  Claverhouse 
and  his  troopers,  like  ravenous  wolves,  pursued  God's 
elect  through  crags  and  fens.  Eighteen  thousand  suf- 
fered martyrdom  for  the  truth.  Men,  women  and  chil- 
dren were  shot,  were  hanged,  were  beheaded,  were 
thrust  through  with  the  sword,  were  drowned  in  the 
tide.  This  persecution  recalls  the  suffering  of  God's 
ancient  people.  Paul  seems  to  have  been  uttering  pro- 
phecy as  well  as  recording  history  when  he  said,  "  And 
some  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea 
also  of  bonds  and  imprisonment.  They  were  stoned, 
they  were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with 
the  sword.  They  wandered  about  in  sheep  skins  and 
goat  skins,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented  (of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy).  They  wandered  in  deserts 
and  in  mountains,  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth. ' '  But 
they  conquered  in  the  end.  Had  they  proven  recreant 
to  the  truth,  had  the  stern  old  covenanters  once  yielded, 
the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  would  have  met 
a  reverse  from  which  it  might  never  have  recovered. 
But  they  kept  the  faith,  and  succor  came.  Through 
their  initiative  and  assistance  the  Revolution  of  '88  was 
made  an  accomplished  fact.      Through  their  invincible 


294  The  Westminstkr  Assembly. 

courage  and  unyielding  constancy  they  won  for  them- 
selves freedom  of  conscience  and  worship,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  general  diffusion  of  civil  liberty  through- 
out the  English-speaking  world. 

But  the  chief  act  in  the  great  drama  was  the  American 
Revolution  and  the  founding  of  the  American  Republic. 
Here  the  political  principles  of  Calvinism  have  been  most 
fully  wrought  out,  and  their  beneficent  effects  most  fully 
realized.  Here,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  the  church 
has  been  made  entirely  independent  of  the  state,  and  the 
fullest  freedom  of  conscience  guaranteed  to  all  men. 
Here  the  Calvinistic  principle  of  representative  republi- 
canism has  been  fully  accepted ;  and  through  it  has  been 
secured  local  self-government  in  local  affairs,  together 
with  a  true  and  efiicient  central  authority,  while  at  the 
sar  -^  time  it  has  avoided  imperial  centralization  with  its 
inevitable  tendency  to  despotism  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  excessive  multiplication  of  petty  sovereignties  with 
their  conflicting  interests  and  pretensions  on  the  other, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  our  institutions  seeming  now  to  be 
secured,  absolutism  is  doomed.  The  principle  of  civil 
liberty  and  responsible  government  is  triumphant,  and 
nothing  remains  among  civilized  peoples  but  the  gradual 
working  of  it  out  in  detail.  While  the  credit  for  this 
grand  result  does  not  belong  exclusively  to  any  one  race 
or  sect  among  the  American  people,  it  is  yet  true  that 
the  influences  which  brought  it  about  were  predomi- 
nantly Calvinistic  and  largely  Presbj'terian. 

The  population  of  the  colonies  at  the  time  ot  the  Re- 
volution had  been  drawn  niost  largely  from  Calvinistic 
sources,  had  been  brought  up  under  Calvinistic  disci- 
pline, and  had  imbibed  freely  of  Calvinistic  ideals.  When 
we  remember  that  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  the 
Dutch  of  New  York,  a  full  half  of  the  Germans  of  Penn- 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.   295 

sylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia,  the  Scotch  of  New 
Jersey,  the  Scotch-Irish  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and 
the  Car6linas,  the  Huguenots  of  South  Carolina  (but 
these  people  were  scattered  in  considerable  numbers 
through  all  the  colonies),  were  all  of  them  Calvinists, 
and  practically  all  of  them  save  the  first-named  were 
Presbyterians,  we  are  prepared  to  appreciate  the  part 
borne  by  Calvinists  and  Presbyterians  in  the  vindication 
of  American  rights  and  the  establishment  of  our  free  in- 
stitutions. 

The  part  borne  by  the  Puritans  of  New  England  in 
the  agitation  which  led  to  the  war  is  common  history, 
and  need  not  be  recounted  here.  It  is  not  so  generally 
known  that  the  Presbyterians  in  all  the  colonies  were,  to 
a  man,  the  early  and  steadfast  friends  and  champions  of 
American  rights,  and  were  the  first  to  declare  for  ^  om- 
plete  independence.  The  Presbyterian  ministers  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  success  of  the  Revolution  by 
preaching  the  duty  of  resisting  tyranny,  and  inspiring 
the  people  with  confidence  in  God's  overruling  care  and 
protection. 

The  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  were  the  first  to  adopt 
a  policy  looking  to  the  severing  of  all  connection  with 
the  mother  country. 

The  Scotch-Irish  settlers  upon  the  Watauga  and  the 
Holston  Assembly  at  Abingdon  in  January,  1775,  re- 
solved that  "  we  are  resolutely  and  unalterably  determined 
never  to  surrender  our  inestimable  privileges  to  any 
power  on  earth  but  at  the  expense  of  our  lives." 

The  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  of  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, assembled  at  Hanna's  Town  in  May,  1776,  re- 
solved to  oppose  by  force  of  arms  the  aggressions  of  the 
British  Parliament,  and  to  coincide  in  any  scheme  that 
might  be  formed  for  the  defence  of  America. 


296  The  Westminster  Assembly. 

The  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  of  the  good  county  of 
Mecklenburg,  in  the  brave  State  of  North  Carolina,  as- 
sembled in  May,  1775,  in  the  then  hamlet,  but  now 
beautiful  and  historic  city  of  Charlotte,  and  within  ear- 
shot of  your  place  of  assembly,  and  adopted  a  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  a  well-digested  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment; and  they  did  this  more  than  a  year  before 
Washington  and  Jefferson  had  ceased  to  hope  for  a  re- 
conciliation with  the  mother  country,  or  the  Continental 
Congress  sufficiently  mastered  its  fears  to  renounce  its 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown.  Bancroft  is  fully  war- 
ranted in  declaring  that  the  first  voice  publicly  raised  in 
America  for  severing  all  connection  with  Great  Britain 
came  not  from  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  nor  the 
Dutch  of  New  York,  nor  the  planters  of  Virginia,  but 
from  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians. 

The  Mecklenburg  declaration  will  stand  while  free 
institutions  endure  as  a  monument  to  the  devotion  of 
Presbyterians  to  civil  liberty  and  responsible  government. 

But  the  lapse  of  time  admonishes  me  that  I  must  bring 
this  address  to  a  close.  Though  tempted  to  go  more 
fully  into  the  history  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  and 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  to  show 
more  in  detail  the  part  borne  by  Calvinists  and  Presby- 
terians both  in  field  and  council,  I  must  desist,  lest  I 
weary  you  overmuch,  nor  can  I,  though  the  theme  be  an 
inviting  one,  consume  more  of  your  time  to  show  the 
need  of  Calvinism  for  the  future  as  a  great  conser^^ative 
power  to  resist  the  disintegrating  influence  now  at  work 
in  all  civilized  states,  tending  to  the  denial  and  subver- 
sion of  all  legitimate  authority  and  the  bringing  in  of 
anarchy  and  the  wild  license  of  the  mob.  I  must  be 
content  to  quote  in  support  of  the  main  contention  of 
this  address  the  testimony  of  some  eminent,  competent, 
and  disinterested  authorities. 


The  Westminster  System  and  Civil  Liberty.    297 

Bancroft,  the  historian  of  the  United  States,  in  speak- 
ing of  Calvinism,  calls  it  "the  system  which  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  assumed  the  guardianship  of  liberty  for 
the  English-speaking  world ' ' ;  and  again  he  says  that 
"the  genius  of  Calvin  infused  enduring  elements  into 
the  institution  of  Geneva,  and  made  of  it  for  the  modern 
world  the  impregnable  fortress  of  popular  liberty,  the 
fertile  seed  plot  of  democracy." 

John  Morley,  the  great  radical,  has  recently  declared 
that  "Calvinism  saved  Europe." 

Ranke,  the  historian  of  the  Popes,  asserts  that  "John 
Calvin  was  virtually  the  founder  of  America. ' ' 

Froude,  the  English  historian,  in  his  lecture  on  "Cal- 
vinism" at  St.  Andrew's  University,  used  this  language: 
"I  shall  ask  you  again  why,  if  it  be  a  creed  of  intel- 
lectual servitude,  it  was  able  to  inspire  and  sustain  the 
bravest  efforts  ever  made  by  men  to  break  the  yoke  of 
unjust  authority  ?  When  all  else  has  failed,  when  patri- 
otism has  covered  its  face  and  human  courage  broken 
down,  when  intellect  has  yielded,  as  Gibbon  says,  with 
a  smile  or  a  sign,  content  to  philosophize  in  the  closet 
and  abroad  to  worship  with  the  vulgar,  when  emotion 
and  sentiment  and  tender  imaginative  piety  have  become 
the  handmaids  of  superstition,  and  have  dreamt  them- 
selves into  forgetfulness  that  there  is  any  difference 
between  lies  and  truth,  this  slavish  belief  called  Calvin- 
ism has  in  one  or  another  of  its  forms  borne  ever  an  in- 
flexible front  against  illusions  and  mendacity,  and  has 
preferred  rather  to  be  ground  to  powder  like  flint  than  to 
bend  before  violence  or  melt  under  enerv^ating  tempta- 
tion." 

Upon  these  conclusions  of  history,    I  am  satisfied  to 
rest  the  case. 


Princeton  Theolo 


